Government racks up £100m bill responding to Covid inquiry

The public inquiry into the Covid pandemic has cost the government more than £100 million to respond to so far, according to the BBC. This is on top of the £192 million spent by the inquiry itself, implying that the taxpayer's bill is more than half of what was expected. The government spending covers legal assistance and staffing costs – at last count, a team of 248 people was working across multiple departments to gather evidence for the inquiry. According to inquiry reports, the government has been hostile and difficult at times, blocking the publication of details and the delivery of documents late. However, the Cabinet Office confirmed that it was committed to the investigation and learning the lessons for the future.

However, the TaxPayers' Alliance has branded it a waste of money, and the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said that although the work being done was critical, public inquiries generally must be more effective and less adversarial.

'Defensive attitude'

Some have already asked about the Covid Inquiry's scope and costs. It was launched in 2022, but the final report is not expected until 2027. It has already cost £192 million, a figure that is forecast to rise above £200 million by the time it is finished, making it one of the most costly public inquiries in history. There are ten separate investigations, or modules as they are classified. So far, only two studies, looking at pandemic readiness and government decision-making, have been completed. However, a review of Cabinet Office documents by the BBC shows that government departments invested around £101 million from April 2023 to June 2025. The bulk of the funds is thought to have been accrued by five key departments, including the Cabinet Office, Home Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Treasury, and UK Health Security Agency, which have all been asked to provide evidence. Time officials are not paid to prepare and appear as witnesses in person, according to the costing estimates. More than half of the £101 million budget has been spent on legal fees, which has included the recruitment of outside consultants. According to an inquiry report, the spending reflected the government's defensive attitude towards the investigation. Baroness Hallett, the inquiry's chairman, and the legal team have chastised government departments for delays in releasing reports and blocking the publication of critical information. This most popularly came to a head in 2023, when the government and the government refused to reveal Boris Johnson's WhatsApp messages, diaries, and notebooks, causing the probe and court to come to halt. The government lost the case. According to reports, the government had a huge operation that had at times looked hostile and difficult to the investigation.

The government is absolutely committed to supporting the investigation and learning lessons from the pandemic to ensure the UK is better prepared for a future pandemie,

a Cabinet Office spokeswoman said. "The Cabinet Office claims that the court case was brought to clarify a point of principle - the right of an investigation to request information that the provider deems irrelevant.

'Disgrace'

Minister John O'Connell, the Taxpayers' Alliance's chief executive, said:

It's a disgrace that ministers have burned through an extra £100 million on top of what the investigation has already invested.

These latest estimates show that the total cost to taxpayers will be much higher than previously anticipated.

Ministers must urgently grasp the Covid Inquiry's spiraling costs and commit to providing answers quickly and efficiently.

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK's spokesperson said the investigation was critical and that any costs would be recouped many times over in the future if lessons were learned by reducing the economic consequences of the next pandemic as well as saving lives. The investigation process is far from perfect, he said.

The Hillsborough Law, which is currently in parliament, supports the organization's efforts to support public inquiries,

he said. Public inquiries like the Covid one, according to him, must be more effective and less adversarial.

We can only bring down the cost of future investigations while still protecting access to justice,

says the author.

The inquiry is unlike any previous public inquiry,

a spokesperson for the Covid inquiry said. Since it is investigating multiple aspects of a pandemic that affected everyone in society, it was given a wide swath of interest. "He said the chair had made it clear at the start that it would take time and have a large price, but that it was operating at a faster pace than any other public inquiry of comparable length, implying that all the hearings will be finished by spring 2026. It will result in plans that are supposed to better shield the UK in the case of the next pandemic attacks, according to Mr. But he would not comment on the government's relationship.