GovPrint is a cross-government cloud-based service that lets civil servants securely print documents from any enabled location, using a single account and building pass.
The shared service, managed and delivered by the Government Property Agency (GPA), is a greener, flexible, money-saving solution which saves departments the time and cost entailed in buying and managing their own print process.
When the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's (MHCLG’s) printing contract reached the end of its term, it made perfect sense for MHCLG Digital to investigate how the GovPrint solution could benefit us.
Reducing our department’s environmental footprint is part of our wider commitment to sustainability. GovPrint offered a practical way to support that alongside improving efficiency and reducing costs.
What we didOur Digital team deployed GovPrint printers across 18 MHCLG locations during 2025.
To support the transition from the previous system, members of our Live Services team attended sites in person, engaging directly with colleagues to assist with user registration to the new solution and to provide a quick run-through of the features.
We provided step-by-step guidance and supporting materials on our departmental intranet and published regular updates as things progressed and more sites were being enabled with GovPrint.
In addition, local office site contacts played a key role in promoting awareness of the new devices and encouraging adoption across their respective locations.
The implementation of the solution was quick and easy, and any issues that were encountered were very quickly resolved to enable us to reach our deadlines.
A number of our core arm's length bodies have also now taken the GovPrint solution supported by MHCLG.
A year on from implementationA year on from implementation, GovPrint is now fully adopted across MHCLG, with colleagues having embraced the new service as part of day-to-day working.
Our Live Services team continues to handle user queries and provide support via our service desk, where we have first-line support available to colleagues across MHCLG, to ensure consistent assistance across all locations.
Our team also has access to a centralised management portal, enabling real-time visibility of device activity. This supports a proactive approach to identifying and resolving potential issues before they impact users, which results in reduced downtime and service desk calls.
Service performance is monitored through regular service review meetings, where volumetrics, ongoing issues and continuous improvement initiatives are discussed. These also include updates on sustainability, including informing senior stakeholders to track reforestation progress associated with printing activity.
Improved outcomesThe service has reduced our team’s administrative burden significantly. It is also delivering savings by avoiding a costly procurement exercise and contributing to economies of scale.
Further benefits include a better user experience, notably as the service allows colleagues to print in any government building using GovPrint, even in areas where MHCLG does not have a presence or equipment, using a common interface and familiar screens.
GovPrint devices also connect via GovWifi, which is another shared service.
The ability to use other GovPrint devices allows for greater resilience, without the need for additional devices; in fact, we have reduced our fleet due to the rollout of GovPrint.
“As more departments use GovPrint and become less reliant on printing, printers can be returned and reused elsewhere across government. GovPrint is currently reusing around 7 devices each month, reducing the need to buy new printers as the service grows.” – Keith Houghton, Product Owner, Government Property Agency
Turning paper into trees through our GovPrint solutionOne of GovPrint’s valuable features allows us to link our paper use to a sustainability platform that automatically offsets our paper consumption by supporting certified reforestation projects around the world.
The cloud-based platform tracks paper use across an organisation and converts it into real trees. It works by measuring how much paper we consume, calculating the forest impact of that consumption, and then automatically planting trees through reforestation projects to offset it. There’s nothing to install and no extra steps for colleagues – it runs in the background, quietly turning our everyday printing into something with a genuine positive impact.
The scheme is fully automated and verified, so we can be confident that the trees being planted in our name are real, monitored and accounted for, and every project is audited by third-party organisations and aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Showcasing tangible outcomes from our day-to-day operationsBy participating in this scheme through our GovPrint solution, we have a practical, measurable way to take responsibility for our paper consumption – not just reducing it but actively doing something about the impact it has.
MHCLG has already contributed to the reforestation of 112 trees, showcasing a tangible outcome from our day-to-day operations. These numbers also serve as a reminder that the choices we make in the office have a real-world ripple effect.
The scheme offsets the paper we use when printing, but it works best as a complement to reducing consumption, not a replacement for it.
Printing lessThe single best thing we can do for the environment is to print less. Every sheet of paper saved (we use recycled paper) means fewer trees harvested in the first place.
Our team is keen to make sure colleagues across our department know that where printing is genuinely necessary, there are still ways to reduce its impact:
Print double-sided and in black and white where possible (this is GovPrint’s default setting across all printers). Use digital documents instead of printed copies when you can. Make use of local recycling schemes to dispose of any paper.With GovPrint, uncollected jobs are automatically deleted, further saving paper and reducing our carbon footprint.
What’s nextOur team is continuously exploring more ways to make our IT estate more efficient and sustainable, including utilising more of the GPA services on offer, to help with standardisation and reduce additional support required.
We are also looking at reducing waste in packaging and CO2 emissions from deliveries and collections of equipment, as well as ensuring the social value criterion in our tenders (economic, social and environmental wellbeing) is easily measurable so that we can better evaluate how a service or product makes a positive impact.
If you work in IT across government and would like more information about what we discussed in this post, get in touch with the Live Services team.
seen at 14:32, 22 June in MHCLG Digital.