Taylor added: "If they go down the tender route they are back in traditional territory of having to deal with large SIs and expensive contracts."

"The other problem is security assurance. There is still a prejudice that open source technologies can't be assured for government use, which just isn't true. CESG [the body charged with accrediting IT products] needs to make this a priority if the government wants more open source in Whitehall."

, it was recently revealed that the cost of GOV.UK is so far nearly five times lower than that of the existing site, Directgov.

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said in a parliamentary written answer that the budget for 2011-12 and the financial year to date of the GOV.UK, including its alpha and beta sites, is "approximately £4.6 million".

In contrast, the government revealed that Directgov cost taxpayers £21.4 million, or 11p per visitor, in 2010-11.