A commercial venture set up by the Ministry of Justice in 2012 has cost the department upwards of £1m, the National Audit Office has revealed this Friday.

Just Solutions International, the commercial arm of the MoJ, provided consultancy and training to prisons in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Nigeria. It had been created in 2012 by former Justice Secretary Chris Grayling; however, the company was dissolved last year at the time Michael Gove took office at the ministry.

Michael Gove’s decision came after a human rights row with Saudi Arabia. At the time, the Secretary of State for Justice cited a “need to focus departmental resources on domestic priorities” as the main reason for JSI’s dissolution.

According the NAO report, income generated until the dissolution of Justice Solutions International was not enough to offset its founding costs.

JSI completed a number of profitable contracts, such as a £255,000 deal to train the Royal Oman Police and a £128,000 contract for prison consultancy services in Libya. However, its decision to scrap a £5.9m deal for the provision of training in Saudi prisons has been identified as the main reason for the company’s financial position three years after being set up.

Meg Hillier, the NAO’s public accounts committee chair, declared she was “concerned by the loss of taxpayers’ money on this failed venture, and the Ministry of Justice’s ongoing work with countries with questionable human rights records”.

For weekly news updates, subscribe to our email newsletter

Related: Ministry of Defence to oust Serco and bring Defence Business Services in-house