A highly critical report from the Audit Commission shows that downloading porn now represents nearly 50 per cent of all cases of IT abuse across the public services.

The commission has called for software to be installed urgently in all public sector computers to prevent users from accessing pornographic sites. It gives warning that once staff gain access to some of these websites they can be tempted into more dangerous and illegal areas such as child pornography.

The survey, which covers more than 400 organisations including the NHS, councils, the police and firefighters follows a growing number of criminal cases of computer pornography in the public sector. Hundreds of civil servants and public sector staff have also been disciplined for downloading porn.

The commission reveals that downloading porn has increased dramatically in the past eight years. In 1997 it was almost negligible but rose to 31 per cent of reported IT abuse in 2001 and increased to 47 per cent in 2004. “Despite better IT security systems, a culture of complacency and a failure to ensure that staff understand the rules is undermining the effectiveness of security arrangements,” the report says.

Chris Hurford, head of IT security at the commission, said detection of computer porn had grown exponentially since 1997.

“Many managers do not pick up on it because, unlike fraud, it is not obviously damaging to the organisation,” Mr Hurford said. “People haven’t taken the issue very seriously. But it is time-wasting, open to abuse as users start accessing more disturbing sites and open to theft of personal information.”

Last August the Department for Work and Pensions revealed that 16 civil servants had been sacked and more than 200 disciplined for downloading porn. Officials investigating the internet use of their 140,000 employees discovered that 2.3 million pages of pornographic material had been called up over eight months. These included 18,000 images and sites involving child abuse.

An investigation into civil service internet abuse in June last year revealed that the Northern Ireland Office discovered 332 computer abuses, Customs and Excise 176 offences and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 72. Four ministries, including the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, said they found no abuses.

The report covers IT abuse including theft, private work, virus placement, hacking, invasion of privacy and use of illicit software, as well as viewing inappropriate material. Based on voluntary responses from IT security managers the incidents are thought to represent a fraction of actual computer abuse, with most cases unreported. Fire and police services covered 39 per cent of the 200 incidents reported.

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