Covid corruption commissioner starts fraud probe

The new Covid corruption commissioner has started an investigation into personal protective equipment (PPE) fraud.

Tom Hayhoe's first task will be reviewing the £8.7bn of PPE bought during the pandemic that then had to be written off the government's books.

Mr Hayhoe is also likely to review the previous government's abandoning of attempts to reclaim money from deals worth £674m.

The National Crime Agency is separately investigating possible criminal offences committed in the PPE procurement system.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked him to try to recover the public money lost to fraud and underperforming contracts using his experience in procurement as the former chair of an NHS trust.

A Treasury source said: "The chancellor has been clear that she wants this money - that belongs to the British people, and belongs in our public services like our NHS, schools, and police – back.

"She won’t let fraudsters who sought to profit off the back of a national emergency line their pockets.

"Tom Hayhoe brings a wealth of experience and will leave no stone unturned as a commissioner with free rein to investigate the unacceptable carnival of waste and fraud during the pandemic."

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) lost three-quarters of the £12bn it spent on PPE in the first year of the pandemic, largely due to inflated prices and kit that did not meet requirements.

The civil servant who presided over the DHSC during the pandemic, Sir Chris Wormald, has now been appointed to be the UK's most senior civil servant - the Cabinet Secretary.

One prominent company that was awarded government PPE contracts worth more than £200 million through a so-called "VIP lane" was PPE Medpro, linked to Baroness Michelle Mone.

Her husband has since accused the government of trying to "scapegoat" the couple for its own failures, instead blaming the DHSC and calling for the resignation of its top civil servant, Sir Chris.

Labour had a manifesto commitment to appoint a fixed-term commissioner and use every means possible to recoup public money lost in pandemic-related fraud and from contracts which have not been delivered.

Mr Hayhoe's contract is for one year, supported by a small team within the Treasury, and he will report to Reeves directly.

He will submit a report at the end of his contract with lessons and recommendations for government procurement in the face of future crises.