FOI 2026/1771

I am investigating NHS-commissioned Neurodiversity Services (ADHD and ASD) across the UK. “Neurodiversity Services” here includes assessment, medication initiation / titration and post-diagnostic support to individuals in the community. In England, this includes provision delivered via Right to Choose / Any Qualified Provider arrangements, where applicable. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request the following information:

1. Please provide your total annual spend (for each of the last three financial years, FY23/24, FY24/25, FY25/FY26) on ADHD and Autism assessments, broken down by:
2. Total annual spend by third party private provider*
3. For each third-party private provider, total annual spend by assessment type (ADHD / Autism)
4. Please provide your total number of patients (for each of the last three financial years, FY23/24, FY24/25, FY25/FY26) on ADHD and Autism assessments, broken down by:
5. Total number of patients assessed by third party private provider*
6. For each third-party private provider, total number of patients assessed by assessment type (ADHD / Autism)
7. For each third-party private provider, please indicate the contract type (block / activity-based), start date and end date.

Please include volumes from NHS Trusts within your ICB that may deliver these services, and also third party private providers (or indicate if this is not possible)

FY is defined as a year starting in April and ending in March. For example, FY23/24 starts on 1 April 2023 and ends on 31 March 2024.

If exact spend by provider is not disclosable, please provide spend in bands (e.g., <£0.5m; £0.5–1m; £1–2m; £2–5m; >£5m) or top 5 providers plus ‘all others’

*Third-party private providers Refers to independent, non-NHS organisations contracted to deliver ADHD and / or Autism services. These providers operate outside of NHS Trusts / ICBs / Health Boards and typically deliver services such as assessments, prescribing, post-diagnostic support, and therapy. Examples may include (but are not limited to) ADHD 360, Psychiatry UK, Clinical Partners, and Evolve Psychology. These providers may deliver services under direct contracts with the ICB, via framework agreements, or under the NHS Right to Choose pathway

2. NHS Greater Manchester (NHS GM) does not hold this information in a reportable format. Therefore, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), this section of your request is exempt by virtue of the following exemption, Section 12(1).

Section 12(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit.

Whilst NHS GM holds records of expenditure and invoices relating to commissioned ADHD and Autism assessment services, it does not routinely record or maintain a centrally held dataset showing the number of patients assessed by each third-party provider, nor a breakdown by assessment type.

To determine the information requested would require a manual review of individual invoices and associated records for each provider across the three financial years specified. The information is not held electronically in a way that would enable it to be extracted through a standard report.

The cost of complying with your request would exceed the limit set by the Freedom of Information Act, and therefore, on this occasion it is with regret NHS GM are not able to process this section of your request further.

The Freedom of Information Act allows Public Authorities to decline to answer FOI requests when we estimate it would cost us more than £450 (equivalent to 18 hours, calculated at £25 per hour) to identify, locate, extract, and then provide the information that has been asked for.

NHS GM estimates that there are in excess of 20,000 assessments covered by the scope of this request. Reviewing the relevant records would take approximately 5–15 minutes per invoice to identify and collate the requested information. The time required would therefore substantially exceed the appropriate limit prescribed in the act.

3. Commissioned providers within NHS GM are below, and all hold a current 12-month contract

The following providers currently deliver services under non-contractual activity, and NHS GM does not hold any formal contracts with them