Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a breakdown of the £4.3 billion in fraudulent claims to coronavirus support schemes, by type of support scheme.

No amount of error and fraud is acceptable, however, not all money lost to error and fraud will be recoverable. HMRC have said from the outset of the schemes that we would not be actively seeking out people who have made an honest mistake. Although of course if an error is identified, then HMRC will work with the claimant to put it right.

HMRC are also taking tough action to tackle fraudulent behaviour. Anyone who keeps grant money despite knowing they were not entitled to it, faces having to repay up to double the amount they received, plus interest and potentially criminal prosecution.

HMRC did not produce and do not recognise the figure of £4.3bn. HMRC’s latest estimate for the amount lost to both error and fraud in the schemes during 2020 to 2021 is 8.7% in CJRS, 2.5% in SEISS phases 1-3 and 8.5% in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. These estimates do not represent actual amounts lost.

This is HMRC’s current estimate of amounts potentially lost due to error or fraud during 2020/21 only, and these estimates will be updated as more data becomes available with the 2021/22 figures being finalised and released with the Annual Report and Accounts in the summer.

HMRC intend to publish updated E&F estimates for CJRS and SEISS in HMRC’s 2022 Annual Report and Accounts.

HMRC established the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce and is estimated to recover approximately £800m to £1bn in the two years to 2022/23, on top of the c.£500m recovered in 2020/21. HMRC will continue to address fraud and error in the schemes beyond the duration of the taskforce.