Full cost of failed pandemic- ppe finally revealed after major fraud probe

THE COVID COUNTER-FRAUD COMMISSIONER UNCOVERED THE £1.4BILLION FIGURE IN THE FIRST PHASE OF HIS INVESTIGATION INTO WASTEFUL TORY SPENDING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC 00:01, 02 Jun 2025

Failed pandemic-era PPE contracts cost the British taxpayer £1.4billion. The Covid counter-fraud commissioner uncovered the figure in the first phase of his probe into wasteful Tory spending

during the pandemic. Some £762million is unlikely to ever be recovered, as the Sunday Mirror revealed. These failures saw substandard PPE, including gowns, masks and visors, not inspected

for two years, meaning public money could no longer be recouped. Most of the wasted money went on surgical gowns, with more than half (52%) of them being non-compliant. Chancellor Rachel

Reeves is now urgently trying to claw back £468million that could still be recovered, which she wants to reinvest in public services and local communities. READ MORE: Covid PPE left

gathering dust by Tory failings cost taxpayer £762million The next phase of Tom Hayhoe’s investigation will look into fraud and error in other pandemic spending programmes such as furlough,

bounce-back loans, Business Support Grants and Rishi Sunak ’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme. Mr Hayhoe’s final report is due to conclude in December. Article continues below Recovery action has

so far resulted in £182million being returned to the public purse, with some PPE suppliers having been referred to the National Crime Agency for suspected fraud. Ms 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.” BE THE FIRST WITH NEWS FROM MIRROR POLITICS BLUESKY: Follow our Mirror

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Express every Thursday. The Chancellor confirmed her Covid fraud crackdown at Labour ’s annual conference last September. At the time, she said: “I won’t turn a blind eye to rip-off artists

and fraudsters. “I won’t turn a blind eye to those who used a national emergency to line their own pockets. I won’t let them get away with it. That money belongs in our police, it belongs

in our health service, and it belongs in our schools.” In December, she tasked Mr Hayhoe with the job of trying to claw back lost money. Article continues below The Tory Government has

always insisted that it was operating in a crisis, with global PPE shortages driving up prices for kit that was essential for frontline workers. Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the

Covid Inquiry in March: "I have been subject to enormous amounts of conspiracy theories about what went on here, when in fact what happened was so many people working as hard as they

could to save lives, and they bought more PPE as a result. And therefore people are alive who would otherwise be dead." READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the

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