The short questionnaire looks into printers' experiences of approved supplier lists from local authorities or outside companies who run them.

It is part of a wider survey commissioned by Chancellor Gordon Brown on local authority procurement procedures.

Lizzy Hawkins, BPIF public affairs officer, said that concern has particularly been raised over the practice of forcing printers to pay to join such lists.

Under current local government legislation, local authorities cannot charge companies to be on approved supplier lists, but private companies who provide a procurement service for local authorities can demand payment.

Hawkins said that the Federation had received complaints over the practice of making printers who had previously supplied councils pay up to 600 to rejoin lists when procurement services were outsourced.

She added that a major concern of outsourcing procurement was the level of accountability of such outside procurement firms, and the reliability of their criteria for accrediting printers.

To take part in the survey, contact Lizzy Hawkins on 020 7915 8319 or lizzy.hawkins@bpif.org.uk. The questionnaire is also available to download at http://www.britishprint.com/news/article.asp?nid=1108&s=1.

The closing date for responses for the Chancellor's survey is Monday 10 October, although the BPIF is keen to receive responses beyond that date.