The DTI has kept hundreds of paper pushers in jobs, spending £66 million on issuing 10,000 publications since Labour took office. According to a report in the Times newspaper, the amount of information flowing out of the DTI's offices costs nearly £30,000 a day.

In the first ten months of 2005, the department sent out four million hard copy publications - or one for every business in the country. However, that's actually a fall in productivity, as in 2003 the DTI issued double that number.

This fall in paper pushing is no bad thing, but it raises the question of who is actually receiving all this paper? And what was it all about? Is it any wonder that small businesses often complain about being bogged down by needless paperwork? In an attempt to redress the balance, the DTI is now encouraging people to view documents on its website, rather than requesting hard copies.