Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 26
26
Deferred
Pandemic response exposed taxpayers to substantial fraud and error risks, some still undetected.
Conclusion
Government’s response to the pandemic has exposed the taxpayer to substantial financial risks from fraud and error. Government is likely to better understand the incidence of fraudulent receipt of COVID-19 funds over the medium-term as fraud estimates crystallise.44 The Committee has discussed the issue in some detail in its examination of the Bounce Back Loans Scheme which was deemed to be at particularly high risk of fraud. HM Treasury acknowledged that some elements presently in the Cost Tracker represent undetected fraud. It confirmed that the BEIS accounts will be the primary tracker for this particular scheme.45 To preserve the learning from cases of fraud across government, both related to COVID spending and elsewhere, HM Treasury created the Public Sector Fraud Authority in 2022.46
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to continue tracking COVID-related costs, stating it will set out further details on its approach after the HMT Covid Cost Tracker is published in summer 2024, to determine how best to track live spending areas.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2024 4.2 HM Treasury recognises the value of continuing to track COVID-related costs beyond the Cost Tracker. In addition to the Cost Tracker, some departments publish regular updates on key items of spending, e.g. DCMS published a report on the Cultural Recovery Fund, and DBT publish quarterly repayment data on the largest COVID loan schemes. 4.3 HM Treasury will set out further details on how it will continue to track ongoing COVID-related costs after the publication of the HMT Covid Cost Tracker in summer 2024. This will allow us to understand which areas of COVID spending remain “live” and how best to continue tracking spend in these areas.