Estimate: cost of the Covid Inquiry 2025

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.[1]^,[2],[3],[4] This takes the total costs since the beginning of the inquiry to over £160 million.[5]^,[6]
• 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.[7]

READ THE BRIEFING NOTE

[1] UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Financial Report to 30 June 2024, 2024, p.2.

[2] UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Financial Report to 30 September 2024, 2024, p.2.

[3] UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Financial Report to 31 December 2024, 2025, p.2.

[4] UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Financial Report to 31 March 2025, 2025, p.2.

[5] Ibid.

[6] This includes costs from the initial set-up phase of the inquiry before it was formally established.

[7] The Infected Blood Inquiry have published reports but did not have complete financial reports.