The public inquiry into the Covid pandemic has cost the UK government more than £100 million in its response efforts, as reported by the BBC. This amount is in addition to the £192 million expended by the inquiry itself, bringing the total cost to taxpayers to more than 50% higher than previously anticipated. Government expenses include legal advice and staffing, with a team of 248 individuals from various departments involved in compiling evidence for the inquiry.
Sources from the inquiry have critiqued the government's approach, describing it as occasionally 'hostile and difficult,' with instances of obstructing information release and delayed document submissions. The Cabinet Office, however, maintains its commitment to the inquiry and to deriving lessons for future preparedness.
The TaxPayers' Alliance has criticized the spending, labeling it as wasteful, while the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK acknowledged the importance of the inquiry but called for greater efficiency and less adversarial proceedings in public inquiries.
The scope and cost of the Covid Inquiry, which began in 2022 and is expected to conclude in 2027, have been contentious. With expenses likely to surpass £200 million, it stands as one of history's costliest public inquiries. Of the ten separate investigations, known as modules, only two have been completed so far, focusing on pandemic preparedness and government decision-making.
A BBC analysis of Cabinet Office records indicates that government departments spent approximately £101 million from April 2023 to June 2025, primarily by five key departments: the Cabinet Office, Home Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Treasury, and UK Health Security Agency.
The reported costs exclude the time officials spend preparing and attending as witnesses. Legal fees, including the hiring of outside lawyers, represent more than half of the £101 million spent. Some inquiry sources attribute this expenditure to the government's defensive stance.
Inquiry chair Baroness Hallett and the legal team have notably criticized departmental delays and resistance to releasing crucial information, highlighted by a 2023 High Court case over the government's refusal to hand over Boris Johnson's WhatsApp messages, diaries, and notebooks. The government lost this case. Despite the inquiry's criticisms, the Cabinet Office affirms dedication to supporting the inquiry's work and learning lessons to better prepare the UK for future pandemics.
The Cabinet Office justified the court case as a necessary step to establish a principle about an inquiry's right to request information deemed irrelevant by the provider.