Whitehall departments are to pay the same price for office supplies in a bid to save taxpayers more than £18m annually.

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said a new centrally managed deal would bring an end to the days when officials paid different prices for items such as pens and paper.

The government expects to save between 12 per cent and 29 per cent with the new office supplies contracts, which will also dramatically reduce the number of catalogue items from 15,000 to 3,500.

Civil servants will also be encouraged to recycle and re-use their own waste paper, under an initiative known as “Closed Loop”.

Mr 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.

“I know it’s not glamorous to talk about savings made by procuring pens and paper, but centralising our procurement in areas like this will save the government, and therefore taxpayers millions of pounds.”

He said departments would move to using recycled paper and recycled toner cartridges under the new contracts.

“The Closed Loop initiative makes sense as it will allow us to recycle and re-use our own waste paper,” he added.

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