MPs have called on science research funding bodies to get a grip on the budgets for major new facilities.

The Commons public accounts committee said research councils and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills should focus on better project management after a report revealed that some schemes were set to exceed their original budget by as much as 80 per cent.

In a report published on Tuesday, the MPs found that the councils, which have £1.1bn earmarked for 15 large scientific facilities, have struggled to recruit project managers with sufficient experience.

Committee chairman Edward Leigh said the necessary project management expertise and commercial skills had to be found if facilities were to delivered on time and on budget.

"The research councils have to get a better handle from the outset on the likely through-life costs of projects," he added. "It is alarming that the running costs of two of the six most advanced projects are likely to top initial estimates by a whopping 80 per cent."

The influential committee of MPs also called on the councils to improve the way they shared best practice and lessons learnt in the management of individual projects.

For example, the report found that the running costs of a number of facilities had been "significantly underestimated" and, while project teams had identified potential success factors for their facilities, they had not specified them in a way that made them measurable.

The MPs also called on the councils, who publish a biennial road map of potential facilities, to involve the wider scientific and industrial communities when selecting which schemes would get funding.