Taxpayers losing out in buying muddle

Efforts to better harness bulk buying power had led to some improvements but were not ambitious enough, the National Audit Office (NAO) and Audit Commission (AC) warned.

Their research found some parts of the public sector paying more than twice as much as others for paper and 169 per cent more for computer monitors.

And there was an astonishing variation in the amount spent on toner cartridges – some costing more than seven times as much as the cheapest.

The watchdogs looked at spending on eight areas such as office equipment, travel and food across Whitehall, local government and the NHS last year.

But although efforts by the Office of Government Commerce had led to "real improvements" the system remained "fragmented, with no overall governance", they said.

There were more than 50 professional buying organisations as well as individual public bodies involved in procurement, leading to 2,500 unnecessary tendering exercises.

NAO head Amyas Morse said: "The public sector spends 220bn a year on goods and services. Given the potential to make significant savings, it is vital that there is much better co-ordination of procurement activities to ensure value for money is secured across the public sector."

Eugene Sullivan, chief executive of the Audit Commission, said: "Most councils already collaborate but, even where there is collaboration, it is not delivering all the possible benefits".