Covid cash lost to fraud down by third because we’re ‘going after everybody’, Sunak claims
Government cash lost to fraud and error via Covid-19 business and jobs support schemes has been reduced by a third thanks to “hundreds of criminal investigations”, Rishi Sunak has claimed.
The prime minister defended the pandemic business loans and job support and vowed his government was “going after everybody” in a bid to reclaim the lost billions.
Speaking to Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio Two, Sunak said the estimates of fraud on the schemes, including furlough and bounce back loans, had come down “hugely significantly”.
He said: “People should be confident we’re going after everybody – there are dozens and dozens of arrests.
“Hundreds of criminal investigations… company directors that have been banned. Action is being taken, people are being pursued and the estimates have come down considerably.”
‘Eye-watering’ claims
Vine called the amount lost to fraudulent claims “eye watering” and cited the resignation of Treasury minister Lord Agnew, who “resigned over fraud” and had described the Treasury under Sunak as lacking “any knowledge or interest in the consequences of fraud to our economy”.
But the PM hit back, saying he “respectfully disagree[d] with him”.
Sunak told listeners Agnew was referring to “what happened during Covid when we had to move at enormous speed and scale to support 14m jobs through the furlough scheme and over a million businesses through the bounce back loans”.
He said: “Actually because of the actions we’ve taken since he made those comments, the estimates of fraud on those schemes have reduced by something like a third.
“They’ve come down hugely significantly. If you think of all the money that we put out, the estimate of how much lost to fraud or error we’re talking now is about two to three per cent roughly.”
What do HMRC say?
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures say more than £98bn was dished out via the furlough and self-employed support schemes.
And the tax service says the total value of error and fraud across those schemes – and the ‘eat out to help out’ offer – is now estimated to be £4.5bn, or 4.6 per cent.
This has been revised down from the previously published range in 2020 which gave a most likely figure of £5.8bn.
HMRC also says it has recovered over £762m up to the end of March 2022, and has recovered or blocked a total of £1.2bn across the three schemes.
“No amount of error and fraud is acceptable, but it is not possible to recover everything,” an HMRC policy briefing stated.