The new Covid corruption commissioner has set about recouping billions of pounds lost to pandemic-related fraud.
Labour fulfilled a manifesto pledge by appointing Tom Hayhoe to a new position which will give him scope to investigate personal protective equipment (PPE) fraud carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic.
His first task will be to review the £8.7 billion of PPE bought during those years that then had to be written off the government’s books.
He is also likely to review the previous government’s abandoning of attempts to reclaim money from deals worth £674 million.
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.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked Hayhoe to use his experience in procurement as the former chair of an NHS trust to recover public money lost during the pandemic.
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.”
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