UK Education Secretary Orders CMA Review of Hidden Childcare Costs as Government Targets Rising Household Living Expenses

UK Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is set to formally instruct the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to examine costs that families continue to face within the government's funded free childcare programme. The review is being ordered as ministers respond to political pressure around rising living costs, with the CMA being asked to investigate whether hidden charges — fees levied by childcare providers on top of the hours covered by the state-funded entitlement — are undermining the practical value of the free childcare offer to families. The CMA has broad powers to examine market structures, pricing practices, and consumer-facing conduct across sectors. A formal market study or investigation under the Enterprise Act 2002 can result in recommendations to government, voluntary undertakings by market participants, or, in more serious cases, binding remedies. The childcare market is heavily regulated but fragmented, involving private nurseries, local authority-run settings, and childminders, all operating under the same funding framework but with significant variation in how they structure their charges. For commercial lawyers, the development is notable because CMA market reviews regularly generate compliance work for affected businesses — nursery groups and childcare chains operating at scale would need to review their fee structures and communications in light of any CMA guidance or findings. It also continues a pattern of the current government using the CMA as an active policy tool to address consumer-facing pricing concerns across regulated sectors.