Local authorities counted for 4.9 per cent of total G-Cloud sales by value during the first two months of 2014, according to analysis by PublicTechnology.net.

Figures released today by the government showed that total sales of £30.32 million were made on the Cloudstore – which lists all G-Cloud services - in January and February.

And a PublicTechnology.net breakdown shows that council spending on Cloudstore made up £1.5 million of this figure.

In January, a total of 987 sales totalling £16.63 million were made via the platform, with 45 local authority sales making up £606,129.

In February, local authorities made 76 purchases totalling £892,444 out of a total of 827 sales totalling £13.69 million.

The largest purchase by a council made through the framework so far during 2014 was made in February for £90,800 by Bristol City Council, which purchased software as a service from information management supplier Zaizi Ltd

In January, Tony Singleton, head of the Government Digital Service admitted that most councils in the UK needed to do more to take advantage of the services available through G-Cloud.

In 2013 a survey discovered that 80 per cent of local authorities have never heard of the platform.

In February, the government published the tender notice for the fifth iteration of G-Cloud. The same month, the government announced that it would work towards integrating the Cloudstore with other government digital frameworks under the new name the Government Digital Marketplace.

Last week, Ivanka Majic, service manager at Digital Commercial Services Programme at the Government Digital Service, confirmed that one of the aims of the rebuilt store would be to improve the ability of public sector customers to find products within the system.

She blamed confusing descriptions by suppliers for making products difficult to find, and said that the new platform would include improved search functionality.

According to her assessment, suppliers have included marketing information, employed keywords and other tactics to try to attract buyers.

She said that this has made “many descriptions and product titles confusing and difficult to clearly understand”.