Fact check: UK government lost £21 billion in covid fraud.

1. Summary of the results

The statement about £21 billion in COVID fraud requires important context and clarification. The National Audit Office has confirmed the £21 billion figure, but this represents the total increase in fraud across all government spending during the pandemic period, not just COVID-specific schemes ^{[1] [1]}. The pre-pandemic fraud levels were £5.5 billion, which then rose to £21 billion in the following two years ^[1].

Specifically for COVID-related schemes:

• Around £7 billion was specifically related to COVID governmental schemes ^[1]
• HMRC estimates show losses of:
• £3.5 billion from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
• £1 billion from Self Employed Income Support Scheme
• £71 million from Eat Out To Help Out ^[2]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several important pieces of context are missing from the original statement:

• The government has reportedly recovered £3.1 billion in fraud losses ^[1]
• The Public Accounts Committee suggests the total fraud could actually be higher, up to £28.5 billion ^[3]
• There's criticism that the government doesn't fully understand the extent of the fraud, which potentially damages public trust ^[3]
• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) alone lost approximately £5.3 billion to fraud and error, representing 9% of total funding ^[4]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original statement oversimplifies a complex issue in several ways:

• It implies all £21 billion was lost to COVID-specific fraud, when in fact this represents the total increase in government fraud during the pandemic period
• It doesn't acknowledge that some money has been recovered
• It fails to mention that the Treasury disputes some of these claims, although they acknowledge the scale of the problem ^[4]
• The statement doesn't reflect that there's still uncertainty about the total amount, with estimates ranging from £15 billion ^[4] to £28.5 billion ^[3]

This issue has become politically charged, with:

• The Public Accounts Committee using it to criticize government oversight
• The Treasury attempting to defend its position while acknowledging problems
• Opposition parties likely using these figures to challenge government competence
• The government highlighting recovery efforts to mitigate public concern