£100m: Cost so far of responding to Covid inquiry

Bill is on top of £192m cost of the inquiry itself, figures show

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The public inquiry into the Covid pandemic has cost the Government more than £100m to respond to so far, according to official figures.

Transparency data from the Cabinet Office shows the overall cost of responding to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, including for legal advice and dedicated staff working on preparing evidence.

The cost is on top of the £192m cost of the inquiry itself so far. The inquiry is expected to become the most expensive in British history.

The documents, analysed by the BBC and seen by the Press Association, reveal 248 full-time equivalent staff were working on the Government response to the Covid inquiry at the last count. The figures show:

- £56.4m was spent by the Government on legal costs from April 2023 to June 2025 inclusive, with £26.2m in the 12 months to March 2024, £25m in the 12 months to March 2025, plus £5.2 million in the three months from April to June 2025.

- £44.6m was spent on staff costs across this period, made up of £18m in the year to March 2024, £21.6m in the year to March 2025 and £5m in the three months April-June 2025.

- The combined total for legal and staff costs for the period April 2023 to June 2025 is £100.9m, though the true amount could be higher as the costs are “not based on a complete set of departmental figures and are not precise for accounting purposes”, according to the Cabinet Office documents.