The influential Public Accounts Committee has released its second report on the work of the National Audit Office (NAO).

Amounts written off in 2024-25 by the 17 main departmental groups were assessed, with £6.6bn was written off in total.

There was said to be an ‘egregiously poor value for public money’, with spending that ‘did not achieve its intended objectives or create any value for the taxpayer.’

The report stated: ‘We are concerned that the 17 departmental groups had to write off close to £7bn in total during 2024–25 for spending that did not achieve intended objectives.’

The worst three offenders highlighted included the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which incurred a £1.6bn loss in 2024-25 through ‘cancelling projects due to changes in government policy and retiring assets from use.’

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