Summary
A report says that fraud and mistakes in Covid-19 support programs have cost UK taxpayers nearly £11 billion. The programs, which aimed to help the economy during the pandemic, included various financial aids like wage subsidies and loans. The report highlights that quick rollouts without strong fraud checks allowed these issues to happen.
Key Facts
- Covid-19 support programs cost the UK £10.9 billion due to fraud and errors.
- Programs involved were set up by the previous Conservative government.
- Key initiatives included furlough subsidies, loans, and hospitality discounts.
- A report by Tom Hayhoe will be shared with UK lawmakers detailing these issues.
- A lack of thorough fraud checks is blamed for the financial losses.
- A voluntary repayment scheme was launched for businesses to return pandemic money.
- Past issues involved £1.4 billion spent on unusable PPE contracts.
- Only £182 million of that PPE spending has been recovered.
- The National Crime Agency is investigating potential criminal acts in PPE procurement.
