Millions 'wasted in IT sell-off'

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Most are also failing to check that sensitive data is being removed by private disposal firms before the hardware is sold on or given to charities, the National Audit Office (NAO) warned.

The NAO inquiry found kit was being sold after five years' use, when it had "little or no value". Switching to the three-year replacement policy preferred by commercial firms would have saved £70 million a year, it concluded.

And while environmental considerations would also have to be taken into account the annual savings in maintenance costs and productivity could reach £1.4 billion.

The watchdog's report criticised a widespread lack of effective or co-ordinated policy and called for a major review right across the public sector.

With procurement expected to hit £4.1 billion by 2010/11, it was vital that value for money and the "green" impact were properly considered, it said.

But at present there was a "general lack of co-ordination between procurement and dispel" in public bodies and an absence of information about what was going on, the report said.

"Many simply do not know the volume and method of disposal," it complained.

The NAO also found that while public bodies were aware of the need to ensure data was wiped from its computers before they were given to anyone else, few checks were made that it happened. "The majority of public bodies had no oversight of the data wiping standards and approaches being used in practice by their disposal agents," it warned.

Around 90% of central government organisations claimed information was cleared but 70% failed to obtain any evidence from the firms used to dispose of the equipment that it had been done.