Government to save £18m a year in supplies deal

Two new contracts have been announced for office supplies for the Government which are expected to deliver savings of over £18m a year.

All Central Government Departments will now use the new centrally managed deal for Office Supplies and will pay the same price for items such as pens and paper, meaning departments will no longer pay different prices for the same items.

Savings of between 12-29 per cent are expected with the two new Office Supplies contracts which will be managed by HMRC on behalf of Government Procurement.

The number of catalogue line items has been rationalised from 15,000 to 3,500 with scope to reduce this even further and generate more savings. The suppliers will be incentivised to work with Government Departments to identify further items to remove and further rationalise the list.

The new contracts will make available environmentally friendly, recycled stationery and toners, and for the first time ever, the unique "Closed Loop" recycling solution. This contract will be used across all Central Government Departments providing secure document shredding and enabling them to recycle and reuse their own waste paper.

Francis Maude said: "These contracts will bring an end to the ludicrous practice of one department buying office equipment at one price whilst another buys the same items at a totally different price – all central government departments and quite a few public authorities will buy through this contract."

"The Closed Loop initiative makes sense as it will allow us to recycle and re-use our own waste paper."

Further information:
Cabinet Office