Angela Rayner responds to the NAO's report on the delivery of COVID-19 employment support schemes

Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Deputy Leader and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, responding to the NAO’s report on the delivery of COVID-19 employment support schemes, said:

“This Tory Government’s incompetence has led to an unacceptable waste of taxpayers’ money, leaving the door open for scammers with £4.5 billion lost to error and fraud.

“The much-vaunted ‘Taxpayer Protection Taskforce’ missed its own targets, and there is now clear evidence of a shocking failure to claw back taxpayers' money in even the most blatant of cases due to their poorly designed processes.

“While the Tories use public cash with reckless abandon, Labour will treat taxpayers' money with the respect and care it deserves with our Office of Value for Money.”