Tory ministers have been accused of spending taxpayers’ money with “reckless abandon” after the government last year wrote off more than £4.1 billion, equal to £146 per household.
As families struggled to make ends meet, the business department, BEIS, estimates it lost £1billion due to fraud and error in its Covid-19 support scheme for firms.
Another £8.6million was squandered by the Home Office as it binned burgundy passports when the colour was switched to blue.
Around £800,000 was spent on plane tickets for migrant deportations that went unused following legal challenges.
The Ministry of Justice wrote off £233million, including £2million lost after HM Prison and Probation Service made a mistake when calculating how much should be charged for youth custody accommodation.
At the Department for Education, £3.2million was wasted on drawing up plans for a new building for the National College for Digital Skills, before the project was scrapped.
Angela Rayner, Labour deputy leader, who uncovered the figures, said: “This catalogue of waste and write-offs shows the cost of a Conservative Government.
"They claim to be the party of fiscal prudence and sound money, but just can’t be trusted with Britain’s economy.
“The Tories’ economic policy is just one colossal write-off, leaving taxpayers paying through the nose for ministers’ mistakes.
"The Conservatives have been spending other people’s money with reckless abandon for far too long.”
Mrs Rayner promised Labour would ensure public spending “supports British businesses”. She said: “We’ll claw back taxpayers’ money frittered away on failure.”
A government spokesman said: “Our £400 billion Covid support schemes were implemented at unprecedented speed and protected millions of jobs and businesses at the height of the pandemic.
“We are committed to delivering value for taxpayers’ money, routinely examining ways of cutting waste, and stopped nearly £3 billion in potential fraud of Covid schemes last year.”
