Jobseekers who fail to turn up for interviews to help them find work are costing taxpayers millions of pounds a year.

Some 1.8m appointments with Jobcentre Plus advisers were missed last year at a cost of at least £16m, the National Audit Office (NAO) said in a report.

Advisers were also bogged down with paperwork and distracted by ad-hoc interruptions which meant they only spent half their time actually interviewing the jobless, it added.

The head of the NAO, Sir John Bourn, said the report was nevertheless “encouraging” as it showed that the advisers raise jobseekers’ confidence and improves their application skills.

Almost 11m interviews were carried out by more than 9,000 Jobcentre Plus advisors helping people to find work in 2005/6.