Public Overspend Costs Each Household £900

Taxpayers are picking up a bill of £23 billion - £900 for every household in Britain - after hundreds of Government projects spiralled over budget.

The sudy by the Taxpayers Alliance pressure group states the problems are made much worse by the fact that politicians and Whitehall officials have "no experience of managing large projects."

Conservatives have said the report underlined concerns that the Government was squandering tax payers money.

Philip Hammond, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury said: "Labours inability to manage projects effectively partly explains why Gordon Brown has spent so much and achieved so little."