Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude wants to renegotiate contract terms with 30 of the government’s leading suppliers as part of the public spending cost-cutting drive.

Maude and his team have already struck revised deals with a number of key suppliers with more set to follow.

Maude told Sky News: “Although renegotiating contracts in this way had never been done by government before, it has proved to be a success for all sides involved, particularly the taxpayer.

“Several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) have already been signed and we expect more to be signed over the coming weeks.

“When this first process is complete it is likely to deliver savings running into hundreds of millions of pounds.

“But, it is not just about the money and that is one of the reasons why we have launched this new phase, involving around 30 more suppliers.

“It is about changing the way government does business over the long term.

“During this stage of the process we’re going to be looking really closely at the way companies provide services to government and at what we can do to ensure we establish government as a single, more efficient customer.”