Media Lifeline: COI adspend

Government adspend has been steadily increasing ever since the early days of Tony Blair's reign.

1997: In the COI report published three months after the election
victory that saw Tony Blair oust John Major as Prime Minister, it is
revealed that COI adspend on behalf of government departments was £69.4 million for the 1996-97 reporting period.

1999: But Blair soon runs into controversy when the COI spend almost

doubles year on year to £105 million for the 1998-99 period. The
Tories accuse the Government of politicising the public information
process. They claim Blair has used COI to evangelise on behalf of his
pet social projects, such as the New Deal and Working Families Tax
Credit. Calls from the Shadow Home Secretary, Anne Widdecombe, for an
inquiry fall on deaf ears.

2001: But the soaraway spending increases keep coming. In the 2000-01
COI report, not even a new accounting wheeze (stripping out production
costs from the total advertising figure to derive a lower media spend
figure) can disguise the fact that COI has now become the UK's
second-largest advertiser (behind Unilever) with an adspend figure of
£162 million. Her Majesty's Opposition calls for an inquiry.

2004: Mysteriously, spending appeared briefly to have been reined in
following the General Election of 2001. But it began climbing again,
hitting a new advertising media spending peak of £167.6 million in
2003-04. The Tories accuse the Government of beginning to lay the
groundwork for a possible General Election in 2005 and call for a
National Audit Office inquiry. Spookily, 2005 does indeed turn out to be
an election year.

2008: In 2006-07, COI adspend had fallen to its second-lowest level this
decade (£135.9 million). However, the figures for 2007-08 show a
by-now-familiar surge to £156.9 million, a year-on-year increase
of just over 15 per cent. Despite the fact that there are no immediate
calls for a public inquiry, the Government feels obliged to point out
that a previous Tory Government actually spent more in 1986-87
(adjusting to account for inflation).

Fast forward ...

2011: Her Majesty's Opposition calls for a public inquiry when it is
revealed that COI adspend for 2010-11 has surged past the £250
million mark. The Shadow Home Secretary, Ed Balls, accuses Prime
Minister David Cameron of using public money to evangelise on behalf of
his new programme of social reform. And there is laughter in the House
of Commons when Balls accuses the Government of hypocrisy.