The Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner, Tom Hayhoe's, final report to Parliament finds many schemes - including Bounce Back Loans and Eat Out to Help Out - were rolled out with huge fraud risks and no early safeguards -- costing the taxpayer millions.

Weak accountability, bad quality data and poor contracting were identified as the primary causes of the £10.9 billion pound losses -- which were enough to fund daily free school meals for the UK's 2.7 million eligible children for eight years.