The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is on course to cost £227million and become the most expensive investigation of its kind, campaigners have warned. The Government is facing calls to consider capping the cost of the inquiry.
An analysis by the Taxpayers’ Alliance says the examination of the pandemic is likely to spend the equivalent of more than £158,000 per day. This would make it the nation’s most expensive statutory inquiry on record.
The inquiry is about begin hearings on its seventh round of investigations, this time into efforts to test, trace and isolate. The campaign group initially forecast the inquiry would cost £156million.
Earlier this year Paul Johnson, best known for his work with the Institute of Fiscal Studies, also predicted the inquiry is likely to “end up costing in excess of £200million”. He described it as “overblown, overlong and absurdly expensive,” damning it as a “bureaucratic, lawyer-driven, backwards-looking, largely pointless exercise”.
The Taxpayers’ Alliance cautions that its latest figure is “likely to be an underestimate”, claiming that spending per day by the inquiry has soared. It notes its estimate does not cover the cost to the Government of preparing witnesses and evidence.
In February the Grenfell Tower Inquiry reported its expenditure had come to £178million.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TPA, said: “Five years on from the pandemic and yet Brits are still waiting on the Covid inquiry to wrap up, in what is a damning indictment of the speed and agility of the British state. And it’s not just the lethargic nature of the inquiry that means it is failing the public; arguably even worse is the spiralling cost which, as our analysis has repeatedly demonstrated, is only growing.
“Ministers should now be considering placing a spending cap on the inquiry, to force focus and protect taxpayers from the ever-growing bill.”
Reform UK MP Lee Anderson said: “The estimated cost of the Covid Inquiry has now reached a staggering £227million — that’s £158,296 every single day, all paid by the British taxpayer. This Labour Government shows no concern over this…
“But when it comes to protecting British pensioners with winter fuel allowances, or maintaining strong border controls against EU-style freedom of movement, suddenly it’s ‘not feasible’. Successive Tory and Labour governments have shown time and again that they prioritise everyone but the British taxpayer.”
A Government spokesperson said: “The inquiry is independent of Government and the process, timing and witnesses called are decisions for the independent chair. It is in the public interest that the Inquiry is rigorous, but also that it delivers its report without excessive delay.”
A spokesperson for the UK Covid-19 Inquiry said: “These are figures based on hypothetical future expenditure, and the UK Covid-19 Inquiry does not recognise them. This inquiry is unlike any previous public inquiry so any comparison is misleading.
“It is investigating a pandemic that affected everyone in society – over 65 million people in the UK. The inquiry has been conducting 10 separate investigations. Its public hearings will conclude in early March 2026.
“The first set of recommendations were presented to the four governments of the UK in July 2024. The next report is scheduled for Autumn.
“The inquiry is moving quickly to learn lessons and better protect the UK.”
