London’s Metropolitan Police said on Thursday that it had issued more than 100 fines over coronavirus rule breaking in Downing Street and Whitehall as it announced the conclusion of its investigation.
The force said that 126 referrals for fixed penalty notices were issued as part of their Operation Hillman investigation into the so-called ‘partygate’ scandal, which began in January.
Prime minister Boris Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak have previously been fined for attending a surprise birthday party in June 2020. Number 10 said that Johnson “hasn’t received notification of another fine at this stage”.
The authorities have not said whether the cabinet secretary Simon Case received a police fine for attending the same surprise birthday as Sunak and Johnson.
Twelve gatherings were investigated by the police, which issued fines for eight events in total, including the May 20 2020 gathering in the Number 10 garden and the April 16 gathering last year on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral.
“A team of 12 detectives worked through 345 documents, including emails, door logs, diary entries and witness statements, 510 photographs and CCTV images and 204 questionnaires as part of a careful and thorough inquiry,” the Met said in a statement.
The force added that it had explored the circumstances behind each event and the relevant legislation at the time. Fifty three men and 73 women were issued fines, with some individuals sanctioned more than once.
Helen Ball, the Met’s acting deputy commissioner, said: “Our investigation was thorough and impartial and was completed as quickly as we could, given the amount of information that needed to be reviewed and the importance of ensuring that we had strong evidence for each FPN referral?.?.?. This investigation is now complete.”
The Met said that the Operation Hillman investigation cost £460,000 and employed a dozen police officers.
With the Met’s investigation concluded, attention will now focus on an internal Whitehall investigation into partygate by Sue Gray, a senior civil service adjudicator. Her report is expected to be highly critical of the management culture in Number 10.
One official with knowledge of the process said that Gray’s full investigation would likely be published “within the next week” before parliament begins a recess.
The official added: “There are processes to go through and updates need to be done. But as far as Sue is concerned, she wants this out as soon as possible and before the House [of Commons recess begins].”