Statement
My right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rachel Reeves) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I am pleased to inform the House that the government’s Response to the Final Report of the Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner, CP 1596, has been laid in Parliament today.
On the 9th of December 2025 the Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner revealed in his final report, Pursuing Recoveries and Preventing Recurrence, CP 1462, the staggering amount of fraud and error across pandemic support schemes: £10.9 billion[1]. This is money that should have funded our NHS and schools – money that belongs in our communities.
The Commissioner's report set out crucial recommendations for recovering this money, ensuring those who defrauded the state during a national crisis face justice and preventing the misuse of public funds during future crises. Over the last 2 years government has been working up an ambitious plan to recover funds and prevent fraud in future national emergencies based on the commissioner’s findings. Today’s paper sets out that plan and responds in detail to each of the commissioner’s recommendations.
Righting these wrongs will not be easy. Significant time has elapsed and many of the entities involved have been dissolved, meaning some funds may still prove irrecoverable. But we are committed to putting this appalling scandal right – by recovering funds taken by fraudsters during the pandemic and putting them back into our public services, holding those responsible to account, and ensuring that taxpayer money is better protected in the future.
The report is published on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-of-the-covid-counter-fraud-commissioner.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-of-the-covid-counter-fraud-commissioner
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