News story

New rules rein in town hall freesheets and use of lobbyists

New proposals to stop taxpayers’ money being squandered on town hall newspapers or hired lobbyists have been announced by Communities Secretary…

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

New proposals to stop taxpayers’ money being squandered on town hall newspapers or hired lobbyists have been announced by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles today.

In recent years there has been a marked growth in the frequency and scope of council publicity techniques funded by taxpayers’ money, whilst local papers have struggled in a saturated news environment.

A consultation published today outlines new proposals to tighten up the publicity rules for councils so they guard against campaigning with public funds. Mr Pickles has previously raised strong concerns over such practices and pledged to rewrite the rule book.

Today’s proposals set out specific rules to stop municipal newspapers being published more often than four times a year and to prevent the hiring of lobbyists. Instead, Ministers believe councils should redirect resources into protecting front line services.

The proposals also give more transparency and certainty to local authorities and political parties about exhibition stands at party conferences, for example, by distinguishing between the promotion of a local area for tourism purposes and the taxpayer-funded lobbying of politicians.

Mr Pickles emphasised that he believed the assumption should be that all council publicity would be clearly branded material, issued solely to explain services, and not to influence opinion.

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, said:

An independent local press is an essential part of our open democracy helping local people scrutinise and hold elected councillors to account.

The rules around council publicity have been too weak for too long allowing public money to be spent on wasteful town hall papers that have left many local newspapers looking over the abyss.

The proposals I am publishing today will close off these inappropriate practices and encourage councils to focus taxpayers’ money on where it should be spent - protecting frontline services.

The revised Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity includes proposals for seven new central principles that will make sure that council publicity is lawful, cost effective, objective, even handed and appropriate, and that it has regard to equality and diversity and is issued with care during periods of heightened sensitivity.

In particular, the new rules would define ‘appropriate use of publicity’ in relation to council newspapers and use of lobbyists:

  • Councils should not publish newspapers in direct competition to local press. They should not appear more than quarterly and should only include material directly related to council services.
  • Councils should not spend taxpayers’ money to lobby government through private sector lobbyists or through publicity stalls at party conferences.

Notes to editor

  1. Full details of the consultation on the new Government Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity can be found here: www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/publicitycodeconsult2010.

  2. The Code was originally introduced in 1988 and amended by the last Government in 2001. The purpose of the Code was to ensure proper use of public funds for publicity. Effective, efficient publicity that successfully tells the public what they need to know about the services and activities of their council is legitimate; the public need information to hold their authority to account The Publicity Code is statutory guidance to which local authorities have to have regard in the production of their publicity.The Secretary of State is legally obliged to consult on the revised code.

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Published 29 September 2010