At least £22 billion of overdue debt was owed to the Government
for reasons including unpaid taxes, fines and benefit
overpayments but officials have not got to grips with the
problem, a spending watchdog has found.  The National Audit
Office (NAO) said £6 billion was lost in 2012-13 as a result of
debt being written off or not being pursued on value-for-money
grounds.  More than £32 billion had been lost since 2008-9,
according to government accounts, and departments allowed debt
to go uncollected for too long, the NAO said.  The Government
does not produce an official figure for how much it is owed by
debtors, but the NAO estimated that it was at least £22 billion
in March 2013.  The level of debt owed to the Exchequer meant
the Government had to borrow more, the NAO said.  The report
said that Whitehall has "not yet fully gripped debt management",
although the Cabinet Office has raised awareness of the issue
and the Treasury has agreed new financial incentives.  It said:
"Lack of attention to debt means th