A COUNCIL racked up a postage and stationary bill of more than £2.3million over the course of a year - a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

Hampshire County Council spent a total of £1.9million on postage in 2016 and a further £476,956 on stationery over the same period.

The authority says the postage costs, which is a slight reduction from the £2,069,680 spent in 2015, comes from a number of external mail systems which are in use.

This includes Printed Postage Impressions, a pre-printed alternative to stamps or franking, which are sent through Royal Mail.

The authority says it has an internal courier system for its internal mail.

The Freedom of Information request also showed that Hampshire County Council recorded a slight reduction in its stationery bill for 2016, which include the cost of printing paper, pens, notebooks, storage boxes and files.

In 2015, the authority spent £501,119 on stationery, £24,162 more than it did last year.

Despite the small reductions, Andover Town Councillor, Richard Kidd, who submitted the Freedom of Information request to the county council, believes the figures are still too high.

He said: “These are extraordinary amounts.

“Surely e-mails can be used to communicate with residents?

“In the current climate, surely the council should be doing its upmost to cut unnecessary public expenditure?

“I will be keeping tabs on this year’s figures and I hope it has come down somewhat.”

Chloe Westley, campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, also criticised the spend.

She said: “Taxpayers in Hampshire will be alarmed that so much of their money being spent on stationery at a time when significant savings need to be made in local government.

“Obviously councils do need to correspond with residents to fulfill their roles, and some savings seem to made since last year, but almost £2.4 million on letters and stationery seems quite excessive.”

The county council is facing an anticipated £140 million shortfall in its budget by April 2019 and is currently consulting with residents of the county about how to meet its budgetary challenges set by central government through its ‘Serving Hampshire — Balancing the Budget’ consultation.

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: “Hampshire County Council is the third largest shire council in the country, serving over 1.3 million residents, and educating over 130,000 children in almost 500 schools.

“Delivering hundreds of local services, the authority receives tens of thousands of enquiries and requests for information each year.

“With ongoing pressure on local government finances, we are actively seeking ways to reduce costs by providing more information online and encouraging those who can, to access information either through personal accounts or via our webpages.

“However, the county council is obliged under the Equalities Act to ensure people receive information in the most accessible way, which may include formats such as easy print and braille for example - and we will always accommodate people’s preferences for the way they wish to receive information from us.”