• New report commissioned by Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, reveals £multibillion price British taxpayers paid for reckless handling of Covid contracts
• Previous government failure to test defective PPE leaves millions of taxpayer pounds unrecoverable  
• It comes as Reeves drives work to recover £468 million for communities and public services, underlining commitment to investigate and account for every penny spent during the pandemic under the Plan for Change

Failed pandemic-era PPE contracts cost the British taxpayer £1.4 billion, as an interim report commissioned by Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, lays bare the scale of the scandal.

The Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner’s report reveals the price the British public has paid for undelivered contracts which saw taxpayer cash squandered on unusable PPE.

The last government’s over-ordering of PPE, and delays in checking it, mean that £762 million is unlikely to ever be recovered. These failures saw substandard PPE – gowns, masks and visors – not inspected for two years, meaning public money could no longer be recouped.

Now Reeves is going further and faster to recover the £468 million that could still be recovered from suppliers – money which the government will put back into communities and public services including the NHS, police and armed forces.

Recovery action has so far resulted in £182 million being returned to the public purse, and PPE suppliers referred to the National Crime Agency for suspected fraud.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said:

The country is still paying the price for the reckless handling of Covid contracts which saw taxpayer pounds wasted and criminals profit from the pandemic.

This investigation and plan to recover public money underlines our commitment to ensure that every penny spent during the pandemic is fully accounted for.

We have always been clear that money poorly spent or fraudulently claimed belongs to the British people. This Government will bring criminals to justice and put taxpayer’s money back where it belongs – in the NHS, police and armed forces.

Most of the wasted money went on surgical gowns. Over half (52%) were non-compliant, but because much of the defective PPE was not quality tested until after warranties had expired, there is little chance of recovering the money.

This interim report marks the end of Phase one of Commissioner Tom Hayhoe’s investigation– scrutinising PPE contracts. The Commissioner has now begun work on Phase two, which will see it investigating fraud and error in other pandemic spending programmes such as furlough, bounce-back loans, Business Support Grants and Eat Out to Help Out.

The Commissioner will provide a full update in a final report to the Chancellor at the conclusion of his term in December 2025.