More parts of the government are trying to go paperless gradually.
The Work and Pensions Select Committee is currently moving towards achieving a paperless office environment in a bid to save taxpayers’ money and the world’s resources.
According to the Spectator, its employees are being encouraged to get in touch with the IT department so they can collect hardware – potentially including tablet computers – that will allow them to do their work on the move.
It is hoped that the changes will save vast amounts of money on printing, with the cost of ink currently costing more per millilitre than many of the most expensive perfumes.
However, an email seen by the news provider suggests that workers who do need to have paper copies of particular documents will still be able to do so.
It comes after a government commission was recently launched to investigate new ways that MPs can use technology such as iPads to do their jobs while stretching their budget as far as they can.
Deputy commons leader David Heath may have been responsible for starting the trend, as he used a tablet at the despatch box last autumn.
Elsewhere, heath secretary Jeremy Hunt wants the entire NHS to be turned paperless by 2018, although it will have to ensure its data protection methods are stringent in order to achieve this.
It may want to take tips from the Barrow County Board of Education, which is also currently moving towards a paperless record-keeping system, the Barrow Journal reports.
Most organisations will find they are able to go paperless with just a little preparation although it may be easier to call in experts such as Dajon Data Management to help.
The document scanning service will create a batch of files that are indexed and searchable and can be stored on discs or on the web-based document management system.
This is a flexible and affordable process, but should result in significant amounts of money being saved on repographics.