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A forthcoming report reveals that nearly £11 billion was lost to fraud and mistakes within Covid-19 support schemes funded by taxpayers. Tom Hayhoe, the Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner, is expected to present these findings to Members of Parliament this week, highlighting how fraudsters took advantage of what he describes as a “golden opportunity.”
The financial support measures introduced during the pandemic by the previous Conservative government included several key initiatives such as furlough wage subsidies, ‘bounce-back’ loans, the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, and various one-off grants. While these programs were praised for sustaining the economy during lockdowns, concerns have been raised about the rapid deployment of funds and inadequate eligibility checks, which may have contributed to widespread errors and fraudulent activity.
The report will detail the extent of financial fraud linked to Covid-19 schemes. It is anticipated that the lack of robust anti-fraud controls within these schemes, hurriedly implemented under Boris Johnson’s government, will be identified as a major cause behind the losses. Officials apparently accepted a considerable level of fraud risk without designing effective strategies to manage or minimize it. Early information about the report was initially shared by the Sunday Mirror. In an effort to address repayments, the government introduced a voluntary scheme in September allowing individuals and businesses to return pandemic support funds without facing inquiries, available until the end of December.
Tom Hayhoe has been entrusted by Chancellor Rachel Reeves with the task of recovering public funds lost due to fraud and ineffective contracts. Leveraging his previous experience as chair of an NHS trust, Hayhoe’s past investigations uncovered that pandemic-related PPE contracts resulted in £1.4 billion in waste, including undelivered goods and unusable protective equipment. Despite this, only £182 million has been recovered so far by HM Treasury. Additionally, the National Crime Agency is conducting a separate probe into potential criminal offenses connected to the PPE procurement process during the pandemic
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