Conservative COVID fraud cost taxpayers billions says Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner

A new report published this week by the Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner has revealed that fraud and error across the UK Conservative Government’s Covid support schemes between 2019 and 2024 cost taxpayers £10.9 billion.

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The Commissioner found major economic support programmes, including furlough, bounce-back loans, and Eat Out to Help Out, were introduced with a ‘high level of fraud risk’ and minimal safeguards, leaving public funds vulnerable and creating opportunities for criminal exploitation.

To put the scale of the loss in perspective, the £10.9 billion written off is the equivalent of around £2,000 for every person in Scotland.

Despite the magnitude of the fraud, only around £400 million, under 4%, has so far been recovered by the Treasury.

Commenting on the findings, Siobhian Brown MSP said:

“While families and businesses were doing everything they could to get through lockdown, the UK Government allowed billions of pounds in public money to vanish because basic protections were ignored.

“Fraudsters were effectively given free rein, and at the same time we saw well-connected Conservative donors and associates of Tory ministers winning lucrative contracts under deeply flawed schemes.

“This report once again demonstrates the serious mismanagement and waste that have become hallmarks of recent Conservative governments.”