Fraudulent claims for government funds during the COVID-19 pandemic have cost Britain’s public finances by 10.9 billion pounds ($14.5 billion), the government said on Tuesday, citing the findings of a new independent report.
The COVID Counter Fraud Commissioner’s report showed that many schemes introduced by the former Conservative government, such as Bounce Back Loans and Eat Out to Help Out, were implemented without sufficient safeguards against fraud, the government said.
“Leaving the front door wide open to fraud has cost the British taxpayer £10.9 billion – money that should have been funding our public services, supporting families and strengthening our economy,” Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said in a statement.
The government said that £400 million has been recovered so far through recovery efforts.
“The report highlights that anti-fraud measures were ‘inadequate’ and only improved later in the pandemic,” the Treasury said.
The report was written by Tom Hayhoe, who previously led healthcare organizations. He identified weak accountability structures, poor data quality and poor contract design as the main reasons for the £10.9 billion loss.
Britain has recorded more than 230,000 deaths from COVID – a death rate similar to the United States and Italy but higher than other parts of Western Europe – and continues to recover from the economic fallout.
An inquiry ordered by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in May 2021 provided a damning assessment of his government’s response to COVID. His hesitant leadership, violations by his office in Downing Street of its own rules and his top advisor Dominic Cummings were criticized.
($1 = 0.7505 pounds)
