Ministry of Justice has failed to file spending receipts of nearly 11bn'

"The Ministry of Justice, the Whitehall department in charge of a 13bn annual budget for prisons, probation and courts across England and Wales, has failed to file spending receipts of nearly 11bn, a report has said. Tussell, the public spending analyst firm, said the government department was more than two years behind on publishing receipts for multimillion pound contracts, weakening scrutiny around public money."

"Between June 2022 and May 2023 the most recent 12-month period for which the MoJ has published its receipts the department's spending receipts amounted to 5bn. Tussell has calculated the missing spending by dividing this figure by 12 and multiplying it by the number of months when the department has failed to file receipts, which is 26. The estimated total came to 10.8bn, Tussell said."

Ministry of Justice failed to publish supplier spending receipts covering nearly £11bn, leaving a backlog of more than two years. The last available published receipts covered June 2022–May 2023 and totalled £5bn. Tussell calculated the missing spending by dividing £5bn by 12 and multiplying by 26 months, producing an estimated £10.8bn gap. The calculation includes Ministry arm's length bodies except Cafcass and the Legal Services Board, which are up to date. Industry standard allows two months to publish receipts. Unlock Democracy said delays undermine scrutiny, accountability, and the ability to prevent misuse of public funds. Government-wide data ranks the MoJ as the worst performing department for missing spending data.

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