West Lothian Council has spent over £1 million on stationery in the past five years.
The Courier sent a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the council and discovered that in the last five years they spent £1,351,676 on stationery items, like pens, pencils and paper.
However, during the Covid-19 pandemic the council spent almost £100,000 less than the year previous with the schools closed for large spells.
The data from the FOI shows that in the year beginning May 2021, the council spent £213,243 on stationery items but in the year before the figure was £300,798.
The figures also reveal that in the year up to May 2019 the spend was £282,300, May 2018 shows another £276,147 and for the year up to May 2017 the council spent £279,188 on stationery.
The council say the majority of stationery spend is used by the education department and other services are encouraged to go paperless when possible.
A West Lothian Council spokesperson said: “Stationery is mainly for customer use. The vast majority of the council’s spend on stationery each year is for Education which will include the purchase of schools books, pens, envelopes, pencils etc for school children. Last year, 90 per cent of the total spend was within Education and Social Policy, which includes care facilities, adult care facilities and social care.
“Services are encouraged to minimise printing at all times. Some areas of the organisation use very small amounts of stationery.”
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