The reactions were gleaned in a BPIF survey on the print industry's experience of local authority procurement.

The consultation was in response to the government's wider investigation into "the public sector's use of third-party assessment providers to pre-qualify suppliers", announced in March's budget.

Local government bodies' use of independent accreditors to provide them with approved supplier lists has grown dramatically in recent years, especially since last year's publication of the Gershon Report, which said the public sector could save 21.5bn through increased buying efficiency.

Respondents to the BPIF survey highlighted that printers felt there was often no real benefit in paying up to 600 for assessment procedures and gaining a place on a public body's approved list of suppliers.

"Obviously, the firms that have had problems with these [third-party] companies are more likely to respond, but it's very interesting that no-one has shared any positive experiences of working with these firms," said BPIF public affairs officer Lizzy Hawkins.

While charging print firms for the assessment process is perfectly legal, it's viewed with distrust by many print firms and seen as an obstacle to small firms trying to get involved with local government tenders.

The BPIF's Government & Industry Committee also said "the selection criteria for allowing firms on the list and for inviting firms to tender are unknown and therefore arouse suspicion".

Another point was that, to the best of the committee's knowledge, no print firm had won work after being placed on the third-party lists.

The findings will be presented to the Office of Government Commerce in the next few weeks.

Some of the findings of the BPIF survey
- A 10-20 employee firm paid 400 to get onto a list and has not as yet been asked to tender for any jobs

- A 20-50 employee firm also paid 400 for an assessment and found that the paperwork required was "out of proportion to the need". It, too, has not received any new enquiries as a direct result of being on the list

- One 50-100 employee firm paid to get onto two separate local authority lists. Again, it has not won any work from these, although it has secured work from organisations that it wasn't on an approved list for