Investigation: UK spends millions on VPNs as government weighs ban for children

• Public bodies including Ofcom, Ofsted, and the NHS have all purchased VPN technology since the start of this government
• The combined value of awarded contracts is over £2 million
• The UK government says VPNs have "legitimate" purposes but that they must "deal with circumvention methods"
• MPs continue to claim expenses for enterprise and consumer VPN solutions

Update, March 20: Since the publication of this investigation, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) published a contract that shows it is spending nearly £50,000 on a survey to understand how children are using VPNs. Details have been added below.

Politicians and public bodies have spent millions of pounds on VPNs while the government considers banning children from using the same technology.

The bodies in question include the schools inspectorate, Ofsted, regional police forces and local NHS departments. The list also features HM Revenue & Customs and Ofcom — the agency tasked with enforcing the Online Safety Act.

These enterprise-grade VPNs are vital for securing public sector data. While they are not typically used to bypass content filters, they rely on the same encryption and tunneling protocols as the consumer brands currently facing regulatory scrutiny.

Other countries that have attempted to regulate the use of consumer VPNs — such as Russia's protocol blocking or Pakistan's national firewall — have inadvertently caused operational damage to businesses that rely on the same technology for "legitimate" purposes.

The findings follow reporting from Politico which revealed that British lawmakers, including senior government ministers, are expensing commercial VPN software.

James Baker, policy manager at the Open Rights Group, told TechRadar that the UK's reliance on VPN technology "demonstrates how important these tools are for cybersecurity across the modern internet."

Baker said that VPNs provide real security benefits and argued that young people should be free to "benefit from those protections too."

Public spending on VPN tech

A TechRadar analysis of public records shows that VPN-related deals since the current government took office have a combined value of over £2 million. While some of these contracts include VPN tools bundled within broader software packages, the scale of the investment signals widespread adoption.

In January 2025, Ofcom — the UK's primary communications regulator — spent nearly £40,000 on firewalls for a VPN replacement project. That same month, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) awarded a £30,000 contract for VPN technology to the IT firm Computacenter.

However, these figures are dwarfed by Ofsted's spending. The schools inspectorate — which is responsible for evaluating mobile phone policies in classrooms — has earmarked £490,000 for a "fully managed VPN service."

According to a market engagement notice published in January 2026, the agency is seeking a specialist provider to handle the end-to-end design, operation, and monitoring of its encrypted network until at least 2029.

Local government is also investing heavily. In December 2025, Kent County Council awarded nearly £300,000 to Bytes Software Services for "Checkpoint VPN" technology to facilitate remote access and secure its firewalls.

While these contracts focus on enterprise-grade solutions from B2B providers, the underlying technology remains the same. Whether it’s used by a government official or a teenager, the process of data encryption and tunneling is identical.

MPs' VPN expenses

Since the beginning of the current government, several MPs have expensed consumer VPN solutions. While Politico previously highlighted that senior ministers were expensing the software, TechRadar can now reveal other MPs claiming for VPN services since the start of this parliament:

Other MPs have expensed well-known consumer brands. While Politico highlighted that senior ministers were expensing the software, TechRadar can now reveal the full list of MPs claiming for VPN services since the start of this parliament:

• Sarah Champion (Labour): Norton Secure VPN (£29.49)
• Alex Sobel (Labour / Co-op): NordVPN (£83.99)
• Jonathan Reynolds (Labour / Co-op): NordVPN (£80.68)

The use of these tools by lawmakers highlights a potential contradiction in policy, as the government simultaneously explores age-restricting the very same technology for the general public.

The government's stance on VPNs

The UK government recently launched a landmark three-month consultation which specifically targets VPNs. The process is expected to inform new policies that could force consumer VPN providers to implement age verification measures to block children from using their services.

As part of this process, DSIT has published a contract showing a spend of almost £50,000 on a survey that will ask children about VPN use. According to the redacted contract — which is available on Contracts Finder — the government wants to understand the scope and methods of age-check circumvention.

The survey, which is scheduled to run between March and April, will also ask what motivates young people to use VPNs and, specifically, what 'privacy' means to them.

It's unclear how the government intends to distinguish between consumer and enterprise VPN solutions should they want to restrict access, given that both rely on the same underlying encryption and tunneling protocols.

One question in the government's survey asks respondents to consider the consequences of age-restricting VPNs for the "privacy and data" of all users, as well as the impact on "business costs, revenue, and innovation."

The Open Rights Group's James Baker suggests that the consequences could be far-reaching.

"Policies that treat widely used security technologies as inherently suspicious risk sending the wrong signal about the UK’s approach to cybersecurity," he said.

"Creating uncertainty around core internet infrastructure could undermine the UK’s reputation as a stable and credible place for digital businesses and security innovation."

Despite repeated requests for comment regarding the findings in this investigation, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) did not provide a response.

Speaking to TechRadar last month, a spokesperson said that the government recognizes that "VPNs serve legitimate purposes, including protecting privacy and security online" and that any measures will be "targeted and proportionate."

Correction (March 23, 2026): A previous version of this article incorrectly included Labour MP Yuan Yang in a list of lawmakers expensing VPNs. The expenses related to a "Virtual Phone Network" which was categorized similarly in public disclosure records. References to Ms. Yang have been removed.