2 years of MOJ Spending Unaccounted For: The Public Sector Spend Gap

Invoice-level procurement spending transparency is a cornerstone of public accountability.

Across England, Central Government departments, NHS bodies and local authorities are required to publish regular data on their payments to suppliers. These disclosures enable scrutiny of how public funds are spent and ensure that procurement processes remain open and fair.

In October 2025, analysis by Tussell uncovered a multi-billion-pound gap in Central Government publishing - with more than two years of invoice data missing from the Ministry of Justice.

Download Tussell's two-page report, which explores the scale of the gap and examines how delays in publication weaken public oversight of government spending.

Or, scroll down to learn how things have changed since we published our findings. 

📊 Key Findings

Tussell's October 2025 analysis reveals:

• 89% of ministerial departments are failing to comply with publishing regulations.

• 26 months of Ministry of Justice spending is still unpublished.

• £11bn of the Ministry of Justice’s spending is unaccounted for*

*Estimate based on June 2022 - May 2023 spending, the most recent full year for which procurement spend is published.

Download the PDF

*

Tussell has repeatedly urged the worst-performing departments to meet their publishing obligations. We are now calling on HM Treasury to take action to enforce compliance and close the invoice publishing gap.

🗓️ Update: January 15th 2026

Three months ago, Tussell uncovered a multi-billion-pound gap in Central Government transparency.

26 months of Ministry of Justice procurement spending had not been published - worth an estimated £11bn.

Following our reporting, the Ministry of Justice began publishing the missing data.

The newly published data shows that the MOJ spent £5.67bn directly with private sector suppliers in FY23/24. That's 13% more than in FY22/23.

But this picture is still incomplete.

17 months of Ministry of Justice spending data remain unpublished, which continues to undermine transparency across government.

And the MOJ is not alone - most government departments are still failing to meet publishing requirements.

We welcome the progress made by the Ministry of Justice and will continue to revisit this topic and assess how much progress has been made.

Sign up to our mailing list to be the first to receive the next update of this report.