Rachel Reeves is to nominate a well being service and regulatory veteran, Tom Hayhoe, a former Conservative cupboard adviser, as her Covid corruption commissioner with the remit of clawing again billions in fraudulent contracts.
The chancellor is known to consider the Treasury can recoup £2.6bn from waste, fraud and flawed contracts signed throughout the pandemic.
The Treasury has beforehand mentioned the commissioner will work with HMRC, the Severe Fraud Workplace and the Nationwide Crime Company to look at an estimated £7.6bn price of Covid-related fraud.
The Guardian understands Hayhoe will start work on Tuesday initially reviewing £674m in contracts that had been beforehand written off by the Conservative authorities, with the goal of returning money to the taxpayer.
Hayhoe, who started his profession as an adviser to the Tory cupboard minister Peter Walker underneath Margaret Thatcher, has had a prolific profession in healthcare, procurement and scrutiny.
He may even obtain assessments of fraud restoration work so far in different main Covid mortgage schemes reminiscent of furlough, bounce-back loans, enterprise help grants, eat out to assist out, and Covid-era common credit score fraud.
The award of profitable Covid contracts was a big controversy of the earlier authorities. The Conservative peer Michelle Mone was concerned in a single contract with PPE Medpro, awarded contracts price £200m. The corporate is the topic of a long-running investigation by the Nationwide Crime Company.
Annual accounts for the DHSC in January confirmed that almost three-quarters of the cash it spent on PPE throughout the pandemic had been written off.
A Treasury supply mentioned: “The chancellor has been clear that she needs this cash – that belongs to the British folks, and belongs in our public providers like our NHS, faculties, and police – again. She received’t let fraudsters who sought to revenue off the again of a nationwide emergency line their pockets.
“Tom Hayhoe brings a wealth of expertise and can go away no stone unturned as a commissioner with free rein to analyze the unacceptable carnival of waste and fraud throughout the pandemic.”
Labour pledged in its manifesto to nominate a fixed-term commissioner to recoup public cash misplaced in pandemic-related fraud and from contracts that haven’t been delivered. Hayhoe might be in submit on a one-year contract, reporting to the chancellor.
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He’ll then ship a report back to parliament, which can embody suggestions for presidency procurement within the face of future crises.
Hayhoe was chair of west London NHS Belief and of West Middlesex college hospital, in addition to investigating committee chair on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s health to practise panel.
He has additionally held senior positions at WH Smith and McKinsey and is chair of the Authorized Companies Client Panel. He has additionally chaired the Taxation Disciplinary Board, been an exterior assessor on the School of Policing, and a disciplinary committee chair for the Affiliation of Chartered Licensed Accountants.
Reeves is anticipated to verify the appointment at Treasury questions within the Home of Commons on Tuesday, the Guardian understands.
The earlier authorities has at all times defended the Covid spend, citing the distinctive circumstances throughout a pandemic when globally PPE was in extraordinarily quick provide, which drove up prices and led to a rush to safe protecting gear for frontline well being and care staff.
