Covid repayment window opens

The gov­ern­ment has launched a vol­un­tary repay­ment scheme to allow recip­i­ents of finan­cial Covid sup­port to repay out­stand­ing mon­ey they were not enti­tled to or did not need with ‘no ques­tions asked’.

The gov­ern­ment says that over £10 bil­lion was lost to pan­dem­ic fraud, flawed con­tracts and waste under the pre­vi­ous gov­ern­men­t’s pan­dem­ic era pro­cure­ment and schemes. £1.54 bil­lion has already been recov­ered through exist­ing efforts.

It says it will do every­thing in its pow­er to recoup mon­ey lost to Covid fraud.

All Covid schemes, includ­ing loans, grants, social secu­ri­ty and tax ben­e­fits fall under the vol­un­tary repay­ment scheme.

The gov­ern­ment says that indi­vid­u­als who don’t take the chance to come for­ward and repay out­stand­ing mon­ey could face pros­e­cu­tion when it receives addi­tion­al inves­ti­ga­to­ry pow­ers next year.

Changes to how direc­tor dis­qual­i­fi­ca­tion works could also see more peo­ple stopped from being involved in busi­ness­es or fac­ing com­pen­sa­tion orders.

A Covid fraud report­ing web­site is also being launched to allow mem­bers of the pub­lic to report sus­pect­ed fraud.

Covid Counter-Fraud Com­mis­sion­er Tom Hay­hoe said:

‘Our mes­sage to those who still owe Covid era mon­ey is sim­ple – pay now, clear your con­science, or face the con­se­quences.

‘This mon­ey belongs in com­mu­ni­ties, the NHS, police and armed forces. Those who don’t take up this straight­for­ward offer and have know­ing­ly, wrong­ly claimed tax-pay­er-fund­ed help could face pros­e­cu­tion, dis­qual­i­fi­ca­tion, or prison.

‘The dig­i­tal trail is for­ev­er, so the time to set­tle is now — before new inves­ti­ga­to­ry pow­ers and tougher rules come into force.’

Inter­net link: GOV.UK