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Guardian: £1 in every £11 of UK public contracting goes to private equity

financeJun 29, 202620678

A Guardian analysis found almost £24.4 billion of UK government spending on contractors flowed to private equity controlled companies in the year to April 2025, equal to about one pound in every eleven spent on public contracting. The report says more than £5 billion of NHS contracts, about 10.7 percent of its external spending, went to private equity-backed firms, while local councils awarded almost £9.8 billion in contracts to majority private equity-controlled companies, roughly 10 percent of their external spending. The Department for Education's external spending included about £600 million, or 11 percent, paid to private equity majority-backed firms. The analysis highlights private equity exposure across transport, waste management, healthcare and social care, with cited examples including Arriva's 2024 takeover by I Squared Capital and reported problems at some care homes and children’s services after private equity ownership. Economists and politicians quoted in the coverage warn of financial fragility, heavy leverage and cost cutting in essential services, while industry group UK Private Capital defended private equity as boosting productivity and investment. The piece has prompted calls for tighter taxation, regulation or structural changes such as greater state provision or cooperative models for public services.

Prem Sikka
@premnsikka.bsky.social

Treating children like cattle’: what happens when private equity takes over a UK care home? Homes with inadequate staff, management. “High levels of distress” among the children resulted in self-harm, children not safe, poor care All in pursuit of profits. Successive govts privatised care homes.

2414h ago
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