Welsh Conservatives have welcomed new figures which show an 80% fall in the Welsh Labour Government's stationery bill, but have questioned why it was so high in the first place.

In 2009, Welsh Labour Ministers and staff spent £2million on stationery. The bill halved in 2010 to £917,000, before falling again in 2011. The figures, uncovered by the Deputy Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group, Paul Davies AM, also reveal that last year, the Welsh Labour Government's stationery bill was £424,000.

The bill for the first six months of 2014 was £200,000, suggesting an austerity drive may have reduced the Welsh Government's stationery bill to a fifth of what it was prior to the last general election. Nick Ramsay AM, Shadow Minister for Finance, said, "These figures suggest the Welsh Labour Government has rooted out wasteful spending in its stationery budget, having reduced it by an astonishing 80% in the past four years.

"While a reduction in the spending of taxpayers' money is welcome, there are questions as to how the Welsh Government's stationery contract became so expensive in the first place. "A cynic might notice the Welsh Government tightened up its spending on stationery when the UK Coalition began taking austerity measures to deal with the record-breaking budget deficit.
"An annual saving of £1.6million on just one aspect of internal Welsh Government running costs, suggests there may be further scope for Labour Ministers to trim the fat and reinvest money in public services."

Paul Davies AM said, "These figures may suggest the scale of Welsh Labour Government waste prior to UK Coalition budget reductions to deal with the crippling deficit left by Gordon Brown's Labour Party.
"While Labour Ministers have taken every opportunity to whinge about modest reductions in their budgets, if this means action has been taken to eliminate some waste and get some budget lines under control, then that is to be welcomed.
"Labour Ministers must always remember that the £15billion annual budget they manage is not theirs but comes from the millions of hard-pressed taxpayers across Wales and every penny must be accounted for."