Government must provide resources to tackle Covid fraud

Employment support schemes introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic successfully protected jobs and businesses although the need to design the schemes at speed led to some flaws and significant levels of fraud and error according to the National Audit Office (NAO).

In its report Delivery of employment support schemes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic it notes that HMRC’s estimate for the total of fraud and error in the schemes is £4.5bn (4.6% of the total cost). However the report says HMRC is unlikely ever to know how much it paid to employers opportunistically claiming furlough for working employees which was the main cause of fraud and error. Its estimates of furlough paid for working employees (best estimate of £2.3bn) relies heavily on survey data covering just the first few months of the scheme.

The tax authority expects to recover around £1.1bn...