The Scottish government’s decision to halt any ‘non-essential’ public service advertising for the rest of the year has put jobs within the ad sector at risk, according to the director general of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA).
The announcement came after Scotland’s finance secretary Shona Robison imposed “emergency spending controls” on her ministers earlier this week.
Agencies were immediately informed of the decision’s impact on Scotland’s campaigns, with details of what constitutes “essential” messaging expected to follow in the coming days.
The IPA’s director general Paul Bainsfair said: “From detecting cancer early, to mental health support, to road safety, to flu vaccinations, to nursing and teacher recruitment and organ donation – to name but a few, public service campaigns play a vital role in changing behaviours to improve the health of the nation and the economy, and in doing so reduce public costs over the long term.”
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He added that while the organisation appreciated “the challenging financial position” of the current Scottish economy it felt that halting spend in public advertising could cause “dramatic long term and indeed short-term damage for the population”.
He continued: “Furthermore, regarding the impact of this decision on the Scottish ad industry, given that the Scottish Government represents the single biggest advertiser in Scotland, any stops to public service advertising could result in a loss of jobs in the sector.”
In her letter to ministers, which was seen by The Times newspaper earlier this week, Robison said: “Any activity undertaken or commitment made that generates in 2024 to 2025 must only proceed if it is truly unavoidable.”
“By unavoidable, I mean that the Scottish government would otherwise breach its legal obligations or fail to provide essential support to emergency situations or cause significant economic damage across Scotland”.
While Scottish ministers including First Minister John Swinney accused the UK government of forcing cuts, the deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has insisted this is not the case.
