Covid corruption commissioner starts fraud probe

The caller Covid corruption commissioner has started an probe into idiosyncratic protective instrumentality (PPE) fraud.

Tom Hayhoe's archetypal task volition beryllium reviewing the £8.7bn of PPE bought during the pandemic that past had to beryllium written disconnected the government's books.

Mr Hayhoe is besides apt to reappraisal the erstwhile government's abandoning of attempts to reclaim wealth from deals worthy £674m.

The National Crime Agency is separately investigating imaginable transgression offences committed successful the PPE procurement system.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked him to effort to retrieve the nationalist wealth mislaid to fraud and underperforming contracts utilizing his acquisition successful procurement arsenic the erstwhile seat of an NHS trust.

A Treasury root said: "The chancellor has been wide that she wants this wealth - that belongs to the British people, and belongs successful our nationalist services similar our NHS, schools, and constabulary – back.

"She won’t fto fraudsters who sought to nett disconnected the backmost of a nationalist exigency enactment their pockets.

"Tom Hayhoe brings a wealthiness of acquisition and volition permission nary chromatic unturned arsenic a commissioner with escaped rein to analyse the unacceptable carnival of discarded and fraud during the pandemic."

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) mislaid three-quarters of the £12bn it spent connected PPE successful the archetypal twelvemonth of the pandemic, mostly owed to inflated prices and kit that did not conscionable requirements.

The civilian servant who presided implicit the DHSC during the pandemic, Sir Chris Wormald, has present been appointed to beryllium the UK's astir elder civilian servant - the Cabinet Secretary.

One salient institution that was awarded authorities PPE contracts worthy much than £200 cardinal through a alleged "VIP lane" was PPE Medpro, linked to Baroness Michelle Mone.

Her hubby has since accused the authorities of trying to "scapegoat" the mates for its ain failures, alternatively blaming the DHSC and calling for the resignation of its apical civilian servant, Sir Chris.

Labour had a manifesto committedness to name a fixed-term commissioner and usage each means imaginable to recoup nationalist wealth mislaid successful pandemic-related fraud and from contracts which person not been delivered.

Mr Hayhoe declaration is for 1 year, supported by a tiny squad wrong the Treasury, and helium volition study to Reeves directly.

He volition taxable a study astatine the extremity of his declaration with lessons and recommendations for authorities procurement successful the look of aboriginal crises.