A scathing report from the influential PAC stated that the government’s response to the pandemic exposed ‘the taxpayer to substantial financial risks from fraud and error’ and that the ‘lack of preparedness and planning’, combined with the ‘weakness in existing systems across the government’, has led to an ‘unacceptable level of mistakes and openings for fraudsters’.

The report stated the expected level of fraud and error across all the measures implemented by HRMC, the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) could reach as high as £20.1bn, with a lower estimate of around £12.4bn.  

This includes an expected loss through fraud of £5.3bn from the furlough scheme which was 8.7% of funding, the self employment support scheme at £493m, the eat out to help out initiative with a loss of £71m, and the universal credit welfare payments with a loss of £3.8bn.

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