Ministers should ditch the spending review process and track funding projects in real time instead, Sir Tony Blair's think tank has said.
The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) said the current system allowed large sums of public money to be wasted as ineffective projects were funded over worthier schemes.
In a report released on Monday, the TBI said that departments were spending hours preparing submissions to bid for funding, unaware of what other areas were asking for.
It said allocations “rely heavily on subjective judgment” and once money had been approved, “government has limited visibility into whether initiatives are succeeding or failing, and little ability to course-correct".
It said: “As a result, ineffective projects go on being funded, not enough money is available for what’s needed, and public trust is undermined."
Instead, it said technology should be used to run an “always on” process to monitor progress, meaning ministers could “cull more projects, faster, when they’re not working, and re-allocate money to better performing, more needed projects."
Read the full story in The Times.