Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister who ordered the change, said all sites "will be subject to a review looking at cost, usage and whether they could share resources better", with the review suggesting which sites should be closed. Any new sites will have to obtain central approval.

Sharing infrastructure, as well as data, will be key steps for the remaining websites. The government's 'digital champion', Martha Lane-Fox, will advise on how to share resources and use more open source software, as well as on how put more services online.

Many sites have been competing against each other, with the Department for Energy and Climate Change and the Energy Saving Trust bidding against each other for Google search terms.

The sites were also sending conflicting messages, with lovechips.co.uk from the Potato Marketing Board telling the opposite story from the Department of Health's Change4Life campaign. "The days of vanity sites are over," Maude said, adding that the government web needed to be brought back "under control".