Theresa May has told Cabinet ministers they must improve their record on publishing data revealing how taxpayers' money is being spent.

The Prime Minister said a number of departments had been "falling behind in their transparency commitments" and asked ministers to take "immediate action" to clear a backlog of unpublished spending records and details of meetings and hospitality.

The Government had been "at the forefront of opening up data" since the Conservatives took office in 2010 but needed to go further, Mrs May said.

Her intervention, in a personal memo to the Cabinet, came as she separately issued an upbeat New Year message pledging to tackle the challenges of 2018 with "purpose and resolve".

"I believe 2018 can be a year of renewed confidence and pride in our country," she said.

In the memo to ministers Mrs May appeared to acknowledge criticism that vast amount of data was simply "dumped" online in an "unusable" form - saying she would examine ways to make the information "as useful as possible".