Government slashes marketing spend by 25%

The Government is to slash marketing spending by 25% as it looks to reduce public spending.

Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown

The Treasury has unveiedl a series of efficiency measures that it hopes will save £12bn over four years.

Marketing costs will be cut by up to a quarter, which, alongside the halving of consultancy bills, could save the Treasury £650m.

It is not known whether marketing campaigns or personnel will be cut as part of the savings drive. A call to the Treasury was unreturned by the time of publication.

Mark Lund, chief executive of the Central Office of Information (COI), says it welcomed the announcements and that it is “already working hard” to “develop the best tools and approaches to drive both efficiency and effectiveness, and to streamline the procurement of communication and marketing services”. It adds that it will continue to “work closely with departments to achieve greater savings by rationalising marketing frameworks across government and aggregating more activity through COI”.

Government spending on marketing has come under attack as the national debt increases.

COI spending was lambasted by The Conservative Party in June after it was revealed that investment in marketing and communications increased 43% year on year to £540m in 2008/09.

The Tories have vowed to cut spending if the party wins the next election, while some observers have suggested that the Government could review COI spending in a bid to reduce the deficit.

Other cost-cutting measures announced include the abolition of 123 quangos and plans to move more Government services online.