Covid inquiry set to cost £227 million, says TaxPayers’ Alliance

Embargoed: 17:00, Saturday 10th May 2025

• Covid inquiry now set to cost £227 million, or £158,269 per day, in latest estimate produced by TaxPayers’ Alliance.
• Covid inquiry to be the most expensive statutory inquiry on record, both in terms of total spend and daily spend.
• This is the fourth estimate produced by the group, with the estimated cost growing on each occasion.

The UK covid inquiry is now set to cost taxpayers £227 million, in the latest estimate made by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, making it the most expensive statutory inquiry in UK history both in terms of total spend and average daily spend. This comes as the UK covid inquiry is set to begin hearings on module 7, focusing on test, trace and isolate.

This is the fourth time the campaign group has made an estimate of the cost of the covid inquiry, with previous estimates taking place in December 2023, May 2024 and November 2024. On each occasion, the forecasted cost has increased, with the initial estimate being that the inquiry would cost £156 million, a figure that has since grown to £196 million in May 2024 and £208 million in November 2024. The new estimate of £227 million will mean the inquiry spending an average of £158,269 per day. The estimates have become widely respected, with Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies writing in February that the inquiry is likely to end up “costing in excess of £200 million”, months after the TPA first placed the likely cost at beyond this point.

Even this figure is likely to be an underestimate, the group warns. This is because the expected end date used by the estimate is only the point at which witnesses finish giving evidence, with costs of the inquiry almost certain to continue beyond this point. In addition, spending by the inquiry per day has increased by 50 per cent since the first estimate was produced. The estimate only covers costs to the inquiry itself, not other costs to taxpayers such as the cost to the government of preparing witnesses and evidence.

Only the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and the Grenfell Tower inquiry come close to the spending of the covid inquiry, with the former spending £204 million and the latter £178 million. However, both of these inquiries went on for around double the expected length of the current inquiry. The inquiry into child sexual abuse lasted for 2,815 days while the Grenfell inquiry lasted for 2,740 days, meaning spending per day was £72,559 and £64,832 respectively. The covid inquiry is expected to last for 1,433 days.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ESTIMATE IN FULL

Key findings:

• The cost of the Covid Inquiry is projected to be almost £227 million. This means the cost per day would be £158,269.
• This is the fourth estimate of the Covid Inquiry cost by the TaxPayers’ Alliance. The first estimate, in December 2023, forecasted a cost of over £156 million. The latest forecast is £70 million higher than the original estimate.
• The costs incurred by the Covid Inquiry in 2023-24 were over £70 million and almost £67 million in 2024-25. This takes the total costs since the beginning of the inquiry to over £160 million. 
• The estimated cost of the Covid Inquiry would make it the most expensive statutory inquiry in UK history by total cost and cost per day. This would take it past the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, despite being scheduled to run for only half as long.
• The Grenfell Tower Inquiry cost almost £178 million in total and £65,000 per day. This daily cost is almost two and half times less than the Covid Inquiry’s cost per day.
• Since the Inquiries Act came into force in 2005, 23 statutory inquiries have been completed and published full accounts. 
  
  

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ESTIMATE IN FULL

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, 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.”


TPA spokespeople are available for live and pre-recorded broadcast interviews via 07795 084 113 (no texts)


Media contact:

Elliot Keck
Head of Campaigns, TaxPayers' Alliance
elliot.keck@taxpayersalliance.com
24-hour media hotline: 07795 084 113 (no texts)

Notes to editors:

1. Founded in 2004 by Matthew Elliott and Andrew Allum, the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) campaigns to reform taxes and public services, cut waste and speak up for British taxpayers. Find out more at www.taxpayersalliance.com.
2. TaxPayers' Alliance's research council.
3. A full methodology can be found in the briefing note. This only includes costs directly incurred by the inquiry itself, and excludes other costs to taxpayers, such as the cost to the government of preparing witnesses or evidence.