Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on contracts with (a) Serco, (b) Capita and (c) G4S in each of the past three years.
Answer
The table below sets out the department’s expenditure on contracts with Capita group companies and Serco in the 2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years. Figures for 2026/27 are to 3 November 2026. The department recorded no expenditure on contracts with G4S during this period. Supplier Contract 2024/25 financial year 2025/26 financial year 2026/27 financial year Capita Business Services Ltd CON_10145 2021 Full Induction Programme cohort of the National Roll-Out of the Early Career Framework £277.73 £0.00 £0.00 CON_12594 Turing Scheme Administration Services £1,426,638.44 £0.00 £0.00 CON_14127 2022 cohort of the Early Career Framework £210,913.60 £0.00 £0.00 CON_18207 Flexible Working Programme £187,749.48 £202,236.06 £0.00 CON_2001 TPS Administration Services contract 2011-2025 £13,283,118.42 £39,020,732.31 £28,633,334.16 Capita Employee Benefits Ltd CON_2001 TPS Administration Services contract 2011-2025 £19,826,129.15 £4,555,613.14 £0.00 Capita PLC CON_2001 TPS Administration Services contract 2011-2025 £2,876,314.46 £0.00 £0.00 Serco Ltd CON_30914 L4 Bursary Pilot for Delivery of L4 Diploma in School Business Management £0.00 £88,400.00 £0.00 Total £37,811,141.28 £43,866,981.51 £28,633,334.16
Verdict: GREEN (88/100)
The reply answers all three parts of the question directly. It gives Serco spend for each year from 2024/25 to 2026/27 and Capita spend for each of those years, broken down by Capita's three companies. It states plainly that no G4S contract expenditure was recorded in the period. The Serco and Capita figures are in a table rather than the written text, so a reader needs that table to see the numbers.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| How much the Department has spent on contracts with Serco in each of the past three years. | Addressed | Direct | The reply states that the expenditure table covers 2024/25 to 2026/27 and includes Serco Ltd as a supplier line, which gives the per-year Serco spend the question asked for. The Serco figures themselves sit in the table rather than the prose, so the answer depends on that table being reproduced in full. |
| How much the Department has spent on contracts with Capita in each of the past three years. | Addressed | Direct | The reply gives Capita expenditure for each of the three financial years, with rows for Capita Business Services Ltd, Capita Employee Benefits Ltd and Capita PLC, which matches the request for Capita spend across the past three years. |
| How much the Department has spent on contracts with G4S in each of the past three years. | Addressed | Direct | The reply plainly states that no expenditure on G4S contracts was recorded in the period, which is a direct, complete answer to a request for G4S spend. |