UK government racks up £100m bill responding to Covid inquiry
Baku, December 3, AZERTAC
The public inquiry into the Covid pandemic has cost the UK government more than £100m to respond to so far, the BBC has learnt. This is on top of the £192m spent by the inquiry itself - meaning the cost to the taxpayer is over 50% more than previously thought.
The government spending covers legal advice and staffing costs – at last count a team of 248 were working across key departments to produce evidence for the inquiry.
Inquiry sources questioned the approach, saying the government has at times been "hostile and difficult", blocking the release of information and delivering documents late.
But the Cabinet Office said it was committed to the inquiry 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 while the work being done was vital, public inquiries generally needed to become more efficient and less adversarial.
The scale and cost of the Covid Inquiry have already been questioned by some.
It got under way in 2022 and its final report is not expected until 2027. It has already cost £192m – a figure which is expected to rise past £200m by the time it is finished, making it one of the most expensive public inquiries in history.
In total there are 10 separate investigations – or modules as they are called. So far only two, looking at pandemic preparedness and government decision-making, have been completed.
But analysis of Cabinet Office documents by the BBC has found government departments spent around £101m from April 2023 to June 2025.
The bulk of this is thought to have been accrued by five key departments – the Cabinet Office, Home Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Treasury and UK Health Security Agency, which have been repeatedly asked to provide evidence. The costing estimates do not include time officials spend preparing and appearing as witnesses in person.
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