Research collected from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by law firm BLM found that between April and June 2021 abuse of self employment support grants accounted for the most investigations by HMRC, followed by probes into the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme (EOHO) which rose by 36% and the number of Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) investigations rose by 3.6%.

As of 30 June 2021, HMRC had opened nearly 15,000 investigations into potential misuse of the government’s Covid-19 support schemes, 1,367 of these were into the SEISS which brings the total number to 6,351. 

According to statistics released by HMRC up until 15 August 2021, £27.1bn had been paid in SEISS grants in total and across the five grants 2.9m individuals received a grant and 9.9m total grants had been claimed.