Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, of the firms reported to HM Revenue and Customs for furlough fraud, how many (a) have been investigated and (b) remain to be investigated.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC’s Fraud Reporting Gateway receives Human Intelligence reports on a variety of topics, including COVID-19 error and fraud, that are of interest to HMRC. This Fraud Reporting Gateway has resulted in 23,000 intelligence reports relating to the COVID schemes to assess, and a further 900 reports received from the Public Sector Fraud Authority.

Due to firewalls in place to protect human sources of information, the recipients of the intelligence do not know its origin. Therefore, once the intelligence is circulated, we are unable to directly identify and attribute yield generated from the Fraud Reporting Gateway contacts, or why an investigation was or was not started.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish a list of businesses that have committed furlough fraud but have not yet repaid the money.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC has a “Publishing Details of Deliberate Tax Defaulters” programme which publishes details of deliberate tax defaulters on Gov.uk for a period of 12 months. Since HMRC began compliance on the COVID-19 support schemes, details of 195 people have been published for deliberately overclaiming CJRS and/or Eat Out to Help Out.

The latest publication was in November 2025: Details of deliberate tax defaulters - GOV.UK

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the new taxation of electric vehicles on reaching the UK's net zero targets.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government intends to create a fair tax system whilst ensuring that driving an electric vehicle (EV) remains an attractive choice for consumers; the transition to EVs is essential to meeting Net Zero targets.

As announced at Budget 2025, the Government is introducing Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) from April 2028. The rate of eVED for EVs will be half of the equivalent fuel duty rate paid by the average petrol/diesel driver, ensuring that EVs are cheaper to own and run for the majority of EV drivers. The Government is also providing generous additional support to incentivise the use of electric vehicles, including £1.3 billion of additional funding for the Electric Car Grant (ECG) and increasing the VED Expensive Car Supplement (ECS) threshold to £50,000 for EVs.

As set out by the OBR, the estimated net impact of eVED and other Budget measures, including the ECG and ECS, is 120,000 fewer new EV sales across the forecast period. This is against a baseline which assumes EV sales more than triple from 2025-26 levels by 2030-31, which means the net impact of eVED represents only 2% of total new EV sales in the period.

The Government has set out expected impacts from eVED and other Budget measures in the Budget 2025 Policy Costings document at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the new taxation of electric vehicles on consumer uptake of electric vehicles.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government intends to create a fair tax system whilst ensuring that driving an electric vehicle (EV) remains an attractive choice for consumers; the transition to EVs is essential to meeting Net Zero targets.

As announced at Budget 2025, the Government is introducing Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) from April 2028. The rate of eVED for EVs will be half of the equivalent fuel duty rate paid by the average petrol/diesel driver, ensuring that EVs are cheaper to own and run for the majority of EV drivers. The Government is also providing generous additional support to incentivise the use of electric vehicles, including £1.3 billion of additional funding for the Electric Car Grant (ECG) and increasing the VED Expensive Car Supplement (ECS) threshold to £50,000 for EVs.

As set out by the OBR, the estimated net impact of eVED and other Budget measures, including the ECG and ECS, is 120,000 fewer new EV sales across the forecast period. This is against a baseline which assumes EV sales more than triple from 2025-26 levels by 2030-31, which means the net impact of eVED represents only 2% of total new EV sales in the period.

The Government has set out expected impacts from eVED and other Budget measures in the Budget 2025 Policy Costings document at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential distributional impact of the new taxation of electric vehicles on households with lower incomes.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

As announced at Budget 2025, the Government is introducing Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) from April 2028, a new mileage charge for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, recognising that EVs contribute to congestion and wear and tear on the roads but pay no equivalent to fuel duty.

The Government set out estimated impacts on household incomes from tax, welfare and public service spending decisions taken at Budget 2025, including eVED. These impacts are available at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69269c6222424e25e6bc31bb/Impact_on_households.pdf

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will be responsible for delivering and administering eVED, so HM Revenue and Customs will not incur additional administrative costs.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the future annual revenues from pay per mile vehicle tax schemes over the next five years.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

As announced at Budget 2025, the Government is introducing Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) from April 2028, a new mileage charge for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, recognising that EVs contribute to congestion and wear and tear on the roads but pay no equivalent to fuel duty.

The Government has set out the expected impacts, including Exchequer impacts and behavioural changes, from eVED and other Budget measures in the Budget 2025 Policy Costings document at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of tax revenues from the new tax on electric vehicles announced in the Autumn Budget 2025 over the next five years.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

As announced at Budget 2025, the Government is introducing Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) from April 2028, a new mileage charge for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, recognising that EVs contribute to congestion and wear and tear on the roads but pay no equivalent to fuel duty.

The Government has set out the expected impacts, including Exchequer impacts and behavioural changes, from eVED and other Budget measures in the Budget 2025 Policy Costings document at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the administrative costs to HM Revenue and Customs of implementing the new taxation of electric vehicles.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

As announced at Budget 2025, the Government is introducing Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) from April 2028, a new mileage charge for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, recognising that EVs contribute to congestion and wear and tear on the roads but pay no equivalent to fuel duty.

The Government set out estimated impacts on household incomes from tax, welfare and public service spending decisions taken at Budget 2025, including eVED. These impacts are available at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69269c6222424e25e6bc31bb/Impact_on_households.pdf

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will be responsible for delivering and administering eVED, so HM Revenue and Customs will not incur additional administrative costs.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many compliance inspections of money service businesses have been carried out by HM Revenue and Customs in the last twelve months.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC does not record ‘Money Service Businesses’ (MSBs) as a category in its compliance data across all tax regimes. It is therefore not possible to accurately identify the total number of compliance checks in this area of business without manually reviewing case records. Available figures cover compliance checks under the Money Laundering Regulations (MLR).

As a statutory supervisor under the MLR, HMRC has carried out 1,008 compliance checks of supervised businesses across all supervised sectors in the period from 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025. These interventions form part of the responsibility to protect the UK from money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation, which includes providing guidance and education to support legitimate businesses, fit and proper operating checks, and desk-based and onsite interventions.

Further details on HMRC’s inspection processes are available on GOV.UK: Money laundering regulations: business inspections.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish all correspondence between herself and the Chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility between 1 October and 1 December.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Chancellor engages regularly with the OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee (BRC), including its Chair, in preparation for fiscal events. The OBR publishes a log of its contact, including with the Chancellor, in the Foreword of the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO).

On Wednesday 26 November, Richard Hughes wrote to the Chancellor to apologise for the early release of the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook and to announce an investigation into the incident.

Richard Hughes resigned as Chair of the OBR on 1 December and the Chancellor wrote to thank him for his dedicated public service and leadership of the OBR over the last 5 years.

These letters are published on the OBR website and on gov.uk, respectively.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she had with the former Chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility on his giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee following the Budget before his resignation; and if she will publish all written correspondence between them on this issue.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Richard Hughes resigned as Chair of the OBR on 1 December and the Chancellor wrote to thank him for his dedicated public service and leadership of the OBR over the last 5 years.

These letters are published on the OBR website and on gov.uk, respectively.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of unregistered money service businesses currently operating in the United Kingdom.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The latest National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, published in July 2025, confirms that Money Service Businesses (MSBs) remain high risk for both money laundering and terrorist financing, unchanged from the 2020 rating. The report can be found here:

National risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing 2025 - GOV.UK

The Government recognises the importance of targeting anti-money laundering (AML) activity at the highest-risk sectors as part of a risk-based approach. That is why the latest amendments to the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), due to be laid in 2026, will make the MLRs more proportionate and effective by ensuring that so-called ‘Know Your Customer’ requirements on regulated businesses such as MSBs are clearer and more targeted at high-risk activity.

HMRC is the AML supervisor for MSBs. While we cannot comment on individual cases, HMRC provides HM Treasury with data on the number and risk profile of MSBs operating in the UK, as well as information on how it assesses and responds to MSB-related risks. This information is published in HM Treasury’s annual anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervision report, the latest version of which is available here:

Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism: Supervision Report 2023-24 - GOV.UK

HMRC also publishes details of penalties it has issued to businesses for non-compliance with the MLRs. The information for the 2024-25 financial year can be found here:

Businesses that have not complied with the money laundering regulations (2024 to 2025) - GOV.UK

According to this data, in 2024-25 16 MSBs were fined a total of £50,276 for failures in: the provision of registration information; notifying HMRC of material change; having the correct policies, controls and procedures; conducting due diligence; record keeping; and providing requested information or documents. HMRC also applies a range of non-financial penalties, including preventing businesses from trading through suspension or cancellation of their supervisory registration, to address risks in its supervised sectors.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of record keeping requirements for foreign exchange and money remittance transactions.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The latest National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, published in July 2025, confirms that Money Service Businesses (MSBs) remain high risk for both money laundering and terrorist financing, unchanged from the 2020 rating. The report can be found here:

National risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing 2025 - GOV.UK

The Government recognises the importance of targeting anti-money laundering (AML) activity at the highest-risk sectors as part of a risk-based approach. That is why the latest amendments to the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), due to be laid in 2026, will make the MLRs more proportionate and effective by ensuring that so-called ‘Know Your Customer’ requirements on regulated businesses such as MSBs are clearer and more targeted at high-risk activity.

HMRC is the AML supervisor for MSBs. While we cannot comment on individual cases, HMRC provides HM Treasury with data on the number and risk profile of MSBs operating in the UK, as well as information on how it assesses and responds to MSB-related risks. This information is published in HM Treasury’s annual anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervision report, the latest version of which is available here:

Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism: Supervision Report 2023-24 - GOV.UK

HMRC also publishes details of penalties it has issued to businesses for non-compliance with the MLRs. The information for the 2024-25 financial year can be found here:

Businesses that have not complied with the money laundering regulations (2024 to 2025) - GOV.UK

According to this data, in 2024-25 16 MSBs were fined a total of £50,276 for failures in: the provision of registration information; notifying HMRC of material change; having the correct policies, controls and procedures; conducting due diligence; record keeping; and providing requested information or documents. HMRC also applies a range of non-financial penalties, including preventing businesses from trading through suspension or cancellation of their supervisory registration, to address risks in its supervised sectors.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to strengthen enforcement action against money service businesses that breach anti money laundering regulations.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The latest National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, published in July 2025, confirms that Money Service Businesses (MSBs) remain high risk for both money laundering and terrorist financing, unchanged from the 2020 rating. The report can be found here:

National risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing 2025 - GOV.UK

The Government recognises the importance of targeting anti-money laundering (AML) activity at the highest-risk sectors as part of a risk-based approach. That is why the latest amendments to the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), due to be laid in 2026, will make the MLRs more proportionate and effective by ensuring that so-called ‘Know Your Customer’ requirements on regulated businesses such as MSBs are clearer and more targeted at high-risk activity.

HMRC is the AML supervisor for MSBs. While we cannot comment on individual cases, HMRC provides HM Treasury with data on the number and risk profile of MSBs operating in the UK, as well as information on how it assesses and responds to MSB-related risks. This information is published in HM Treasury’s annual anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervision report, the latest version of which is available here:

Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism: Supervision Report 2023-24 - GOV.UK

HMRC also publishes details of penalties it has issued to businesses for non-compliance with the MLRs. The information for the 2024-25 financial year can be found here:

Businesses that have not complied with the money laundering regulations (2024 to 2025) - GOV.UK

According to this data, in 2024-25 16 MSBs were fined a total of £50,276 for failures in: the provision of registration information; notifying HMRC of material change; having the correct policies, controls and procedures; conducting due diligence; record keeping; and providing requested information or documents. HMRC also applies a range of non-financial penalties, including preventing businesses from trading through suspension or cancellation of their supervisory registration, to address risks in its supervised sectors.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the level of financial crime linked to non compliant money service businesses.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The latest National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, published in July 2025, confirms that Money Service Businesses (MSBs) remain high risk for both money laundering and terrorist financing, unchanged from the 2020 rating. The report can be found here:

National risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing 2025 - GOV.UK

The Government recognises the importance of targeting anti-money laundering (AML) activity at the highest-risk sectors as part of a risk-based approach. That is why the latest amendments to the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), due to be laid in 2026, will make the MLRs more proportionate and effective by ensuring that so-called ‘Know Your Customer’ requirements on regulated businesses such as MSBs are clearer and more targeted at high-risk activity.

HMRC is the AML supervisor for MSBs. While we cannot comment on individual cases, HMRC provides HM Treasury with data on the number and risk profile of MSBs operating in the UK, as well as information on how it assesses and responds to MSB-related risks. This information is published in HM Treasury’s annual anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervision report, the latest version of which is available here:

Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism: Supervision Report 2023-24 - GOV.UK

HMRC also publishes details of penalties it has issued to businesses for non-compliance with the MLRs. The information for the 2024-25 financial year can be found here:

Businesses that have not complied with the money laundering regulations (2024 to 2025) - GOV.UK

According to this data, in 2024-25 16 MSBs were fined a total of £50,276 for failures in: the provision of registration information; notifying HMRC of material change; having the correct policies, controls and procedures; conducting due diligence; record keeping; and providing requested information or documents. HMRC also applies a range of non-financial penalties, including preventing businesses from trading through suspension or cancellation of their supervisory registration, to address risks in its supervised sectors.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of anti money laundering controls in bureaux de change and money service businesses.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The latest National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, published in July 2025, confirms that Money Service Businesses (MSBs) remain high risk for both money laundering and terrorist financing, unchanged from the 2020 rating. The report can be found here:

National risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing 2025 - GOV.UK

The Government recognises the importance of targeting anti-money laundering (AML) activity at the highest-risk sectors as part of a risk-based approach. That is why the latest amendments to the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), due to be laid in 2026, will make the MLRs more proportionate and effective by ensuring that so-called ‘Know Your Customer’ requirements on regulated businesses such as MSBs are clearer and more targeted at high-risk activity.

HMRC is the AML supervisor for MSBs. While we cannot comment on individual cases, HMRC provides HM Treasury with data on the number and risk profile of MSBs operating in the UK, as well as information on how it assesses and responds to MSB-related risks. This information is published in HM Treasury’s annual anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervision report, the latest version of which is available here:

Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism: Supervision Report 2023-24 - GOV.UK

HMRC also publishes details of penalties it has issued to businesses for non-compliance with the MLRs. The information for the 2024-25 financial year can be found here:

Businesses that have not complied with the money laundering regulations (2024 to 2025) - GOV.UK

According to this data, in 2024-25 16 MSBs were fined a total of £50,276 for failures in: the provision of registration information; notifying HMRC of material change; having the correct policies, controls and procedures; conducting due diligence; record keeping; and providing requested information or documents. HMRC also applies a range of non-financial penalties, including preventing businesses from trading through suspension or cancellation of their supervisory registration, to address risks in its supervised sectors.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the soft drinks industry levy on reducing obesity and related illnesses.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Government data shows that sugar levels in drinks in scope of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) reduced by 47% between 2015 and 2024, removing approximately 57,000 tonnes of sugar from these drinks. This has had benefits across all socio-economic groups.

The National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), an ongoing Government-funded survey of food consumption and nutrient status in the United Kingdom, shows that sugar intakes of older children and adolescents reduced between 2014 and 2019, and the amount of sugar coming from soft drinks reduced.

Academic modelling papers suggest that the following benefits may have been realised as a result of the reductions in sugar seen in drinks in scope of the SDIL:

• prevented approximately 5,000 cases of obesity in girls aged ten to 11 years old, with a greater impact on those living in the most deprived areas, although the paper did not find any impact on girls in the younger age group, four to five years old, or in boys at either age;
• shown relative reductions in hospital admissions for dental caries related tooth extractions in children aged zero to four years old and five to nine years old of 28.6% and 5.5% respectively, with no change observed for older children, and reductions being observed in children living in most index of multiple deprivation areas regardless of deprivation; and
• shown a reduction in the incidence rates of child admissions to hospital for asthma related complications of 20.9% in those aged five to 18 years old, with reductions being similar across age-groups and deprivation quintiles.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been recovered by HM Revenue and Customs from furlough fraud to date.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC’s latest fully assured figures, covering up to the end of March 2025, have been published in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025

Across the three HMRC-administered COVID-19 support schemes Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Eat Out to Help Out (EOHO), up to the end of March 2025, HMRC’s compliance effort on the COVID-19 schemes has prevented the payment of or recovered the overpayment of over £1.7 billion worth of grants, which is made up of £430 million prevented from being paid out and £1.3 billion recovered from overpayments.

Of the overall £1.3 billion recovered from overpayments, £920 million relates to CJRS.

HMRC identifies claims for compliance checks where the amount of the claim is out of step with other information. The risk that the claim is incorrect may be due to a range of reasons from an honest mistake through to fraud, therefore our data does not distinguish between error and fraud.

HMRC also introduced dedicated voluntary disclosure portals where claimants can voluntarily repay a COVID-19 support scheme grant, either because they have identified an overpayment of a grant or if they no longer require it. These repayment facilities have so far resulted in unprompted disclosures and voluntary repayments of over £1 billion for CJRS, £51 million for SEISS, and £2 million for EOHO.

• CJRS: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pay-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-grants-back
• SEISS: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tell-hmrc-and-pay-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-back
• EOHO: Eat Out to Help Out Scheme (email eohovoluntaryrepayments@hmrc.gov.uk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish a list of businesses that have been required to repay fraudulently claimed furlough money.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

This government has already recouped almost £400m of Covid support cash.

The government has already actioned many of the Commissioner’s early proposals. These include:

• A voluntary repayment scheme, launched in September, giving claimants until 31 December to pay up.
• Tougher sanctions powers through the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, which became law on 2 December.
• Specialist fraud recovery teams to track down suspected fraudsters and recover taxpayer cash, from 2026.

HMRC has a “Publishing Details of Deliberate Tax Defaulters” programme which publishes details of deliberate tax defaulters on Gov.uk, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Revenue and Customs expects to recover from outstanding furlough fraud investigations.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

This government has already recouped almost £400m of Covid support cash.

The government has already actioned many of the Commissioner’s early proposals. These include:

• A voluntary repayment scheme, launched in September, giving claimants until 31 December to pay up.
• Tougher sanctions powers through the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, which became law on 2 December.
• Specialist fraud recovery teams to track down suspected fraudsters and recover taxpayer cash, from 2026.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of revenue lost to furlough fraud committed during the pandemic.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner Tom Hayhoe’s final report to Parliament found many schemes - including Bounce Back Loans - were rolled out with huge fraud risks and no early safeguards – costing the taxpayer millions.

Weak accountability, bad quality data and poor contracting were identified as the primary causes of the £10.9 billion pound losses – which were enough to fund daily free school meals for the UK’s 2.7 million eligible children for eight years.

This government has already recouped almost £400m of Covid support cash.

The government has already actioned many of the Commissioner’s early proposals. These include:

• A voluntary repayment scheme, launched in September, giving claimants until 31 December to pay up.
• Tougher sanctions powers through the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, which became law on 2 December.
• Specialist fraud recovery teams to track down suspected fraudsters and recover taxpayer cash, from 2026.

Estimates of error and fraud for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) are published at: Error and fraud in the COVID-19 schemes: methodology and approach (an update for 2023) - GOV.UK

Cancelled mayoral elections

Injury on Duty Award Scheme