MPs have blamed 'a serious failure in financial management' for a £200m deficit in the accounts of the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

The accounting issues forced it to impose substantial budgetary cuts on a series of agencies ranging from the National Forest Company to Food From Britain, who were required to cut 8% from their planned expenditure in the middle of the year.

Senor civil servants at the highest level were accused of being 'irresponsibly over-optimistic' about the supposed 'generosity' of the Treasury and their ability to use its full End Year Flexibility and to switch resources from non-cash to near-cash expenditure.

The Commons DEFRA Committee took evidence from permanent secretary Helen Gosh and other of bureaucrats, and said this 'complacency' had severe un-planed-for consequences for which it blamed their 'self deception'.

The committee said only a small part of the deficit was due to un-planned-for Avian Flu spending and the failure of its computerised single farm payment scheme.