Several government departments are failing to provide enough financial information about their conduct, parliament's spending watchdog has said.

As ministers press private sector companies to adopt high levels of corporate governance in the wake of the Enron scandal, it has emerged that more still needs to be done to improve the accounting practices of some Whitehall departments.

While the National Audit Office finds "progress in a number of important areas" it expressed unease at the performance of some public bodies.Sir John Bourn, head of the spending watchdog, said he welcomed "the substantial progress which many government departments have made in preparing their accounts".

But he warned that there is "more to be done" in "a significant minority of departments".

"Departments need to develop accruals-based management information systems to embed both resource budgeting and resource accounting into routine financial management," said the report.

Sir John said the government should also learn lessons from the Higgs report on non-executive directors and the Smith report on audit committees.

While the NAO said the reports "were principally aimed at the listed company sector" it added that "they have great relevance for similar developments in the central government sector".