09.03.15
News agenda
Listening to a commercial radio station this week, I couldn’t help but notice that the ad breaks seemed dominated by government and public sector announcements.
From grants for businesses that hire apprentices to money for superfast broadband, to a police warning to people who take drugs and drive, armed forces recruitment and the rules on new workplace pension schemes, in some ad breaks every single slot was bought up by a government department or public body.
There are strict rules before elections on what political parties can spend, though there are no specific expenditure limits on general government advertising. The ministerial and Civil Service codes – and Cabinet Office guidelines – do insist on such publicity being “objective, informative and non-party political”, and in the run-up to an election should not “compete” with party advertising.
Clearly the current advertising blitz does pass the objectivity test – but it’s surely also an easy way of reminding people of the more popular things the government has been up to recently.
Tell us what you think – have your say below or email [email protected]