A massive data collection exercise across many hundreds of public bodies has been ordered by the Treasury to determine expenditure on IT, human resources, finance and procurement, in a bid to wring better value for taxpayers out of the billions of pounds spent.

The figures will be used by this government and the Tories, should they form the next administration, to try to drive down office costs as tens of billions of pounds have to be cut from public spending in the wake of the financial crisis.