The government's mammoth print procurement deal with Williams Lea is surely just the inevitable result of privatising HMSO's publishing operations back in 1996. The Stationery Office, as it became, is now part of Williams Lea.

We taxpayers can't have it both ways. We howl with anguish upon discovering that government departments are spending ridiculous amounts on letterheads and business cards, or the wrong sort of envelope. When a setup is put in place that promises better value for our tax pounds, we don't like that either because SMEs are potentially shut out of the equation.

It makes perfect sense that government print buying be consolidated into some sort of highly-efficient portal-type operation, but the government now has to square that with its continual promises of special support for SME businesses. If, for example, the contract with Williams Lea involved a requirement that a certain percentage of work by value be placed with SME printcos, and that the payment terms must be on the government's sub-30 day scale, then that would help. As would clarity over thorny aspects such as rebates and prebates. It would also be interesting to know more about how the promised savings will be measured, too. 

In political speak such things will no doubt be 'strongly encouraged'. But that's not quite the same as certain policies being a requisite.