The rise, revealed in figures released by the Crown Commercial Service is much lower than the 40% jump recorded between August and September.

During the month, 149 purchases were made in the local government category, which includes local authorities, standalone companies owned by councils as well as housing associations.

Overall, cumulative sales to the wider public sector now stand at £345.7m, with 53% by value and 61% by volume awarded to small and medium enterprises – proportions which stand unchanged from last month.

During the month, 28 councils made purchases through G-Cloud – up from 28 last month. Three housing associations and  the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime also made purchases in the category during the month

The largest September purchase by a local authority reported in October was for £91,520 by Peterborough City Council for website redevelopment. It made a similar payment of exactly the same amount to the same supplier last month.

Bristol City Council made the largest number of local authority G-Cloud purchases during the month with 38 separate buys, totalling £494,000.