Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost was of (a) establishing and (b) operating the covid fraud hotline in the period since October 2020.

The Government Counter Fraud Function COVID-19 Fraud Intelligence Team (now part of the Public Sector Fraud Authority Intelligence Hub) established the Covid Fraud Hotline in October 2020 in partnership with Crimestoppers. It ended on 30 June 2023.

Its creation led to 5,124 referrals of potential fraud being disseminated to public bodies.

The figures provided below do not include Intelligence Team staff costs.

1. The set up cost for the Covid Fraud Hotline with Crimestoppers was £105,000 excluding VAT.

2. Following this, the operating costs of the Hotline between October 2020 and on 30 June 2023 was £114,940 excluding VAT

In 22/23 the PSFA set a target of delivering £180m of savings to the taxpayer. The PSFA far surpassed this within the first 12 months by preventing and recovering £311 million. In its second year, the PSFA has a target of achieving £185 million of savings for the taxpayer.