FOI/202400433499 · FOI · not held
Public Relations (PR) spend by the Scottish Government: FOI release
Information requested
1. Total annual expenditure, from 2015 to present, annually, on public relations firms by:
a. The Scottish Government
b. All public bodies (broken down by public body)
2. Total annual expenditure, from 2015 to present, annually, on public relations firms by the Scottish Government, broken down by PR firm hired.
3. Total annual expenditure, from 2015 to present, annually, on public relations firms by all public bodies, broken down by PR firm hired.
4. Value of each contract, from 2015 to present, awarded to public relations firms by the Scottish Government public bodies with the name of each PR firm for each contract.
Response
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The Scottish Government does not hold information on all public relations expenditure by all public bodies and you would need to approach each public body for details on their expenditure. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested in relation to question 1b, 3 and part of 4.
Question 1a and 2 There is no classification in the Scottish Government system that can be used to identify whether a supplier is a public relations firm. Therefore, the list of companies that have been appointed by Scottish Government Communications to provide public relations services through the Scottish Government Marketing Services Framework has been used and there is a Scottish Government Purchase Order to that firm.
Year Total Expenditure (excld VAT) Split by PR Agency (excld VAT) 2015 £458,211.79 3X1: £45,575.62 The Big Partnership: £120,655.26 Weber Shandwick: £50,802.80 Consolidated PR: £68,547.06 Smarts: £158,600.49 LDPR*: £14,030.56 2016 £1,251,429.59 3X1: £88,598.28 The Big Partnership: £141,014.65 Weber Shandwick: £72,496.48 Consolidated PR: £559,058.13 Smarts: £355,770.25 LDPR*: £34,491.80 2017 £1,180,425.51 3X1: £373,773.92 The Big Partnership: £150,000.98 Consolidated PR: £353,341.00 Pagoda: £12,228.00 Smarts: £208,957.04 LDPR*: £82,124.57 2018 £752,829.00 3X1: £208,209.11 The Big Partnership: £141,598.09 Consolidated PR: £9,600.00 Pagoda: £14,193.60 Smarts: £313,234.20 Stripe: £65,994.00 2019 £896,884.97 3X1: £201,526.88 The Big Partnership: £114,537.11 Pagoda: £16,815.60 Smarts: £283,553.38 Stripe: £280,452.00 2020 £1,182,837.17 3X1: £310,041.83 Smarts: £364,058.06 Stripe: £508,737.28 2021 £953,629.23 3X1: £205,432.83 Smarts: £353,324.40 Stripe: £394,872.00 2022 £906,483.05 3X1: £248,312.82 Smarts: £395,893.80 Stripe: £262,276.43 2023 £741,144.91 3X1: £155,413.28 Smarts: £285,709.32 Stripe: £280,683.02 LDPR*: £24,339.29 2024 (up to 8/10/24) £472,900.65 3X1: £118,089.19 The Big Partnership: £15,767.66 Smarts: £119,764.80 Stripe: £219,279.00
* LDPR was not commissioned through the Scottish Government Marketing Services Framework. This was via a contractual arrangement set up by VisitScotland which names the Scottish Government as a potential user of the contract covering international public relations activity.
Question 4
There is no central register of contracts awarded to public relations agencies by the Scottish Government. Therefore, various searches have been undertaken to gather as much of the information as possible.
The following table sets out the value of the contracts for public relations since 2015 through the Scottish Government Marketing Services Framework where the public relations agency was commissioned by the Scottish Government Communications Division as that team has a register of all contracts placed by them. Please note that the values quoted for these contracts sets the upper limit of value in each case but does not represent the actual value of the work commissioned.
Contract Name Supplier Name Contract Value (Excld VAT) Tram Inquiry - PR 3x1 £150,000 International - PR 3x1 £175,000 Citizens Assembly - PR 3x1 £100,000 CEPH - PR Consolidated £300,000 Tobacco Control - PR Consolidated £60,000 Safer Communities - PR Consolidated £450,000 Healthier Scotland 2016 - PR Consolidated £300,000 Migration - PR Pagoda £150,000 International - PR Smarts £120,000 Safer Roads - PR Smarts £125,000 WW100 - PR Smarts £120,000 Healthier Scotland - PR Smarts £300,000 Safer 2018 - PR Smarts £175,000 Safer - PR Smarts £750,000 Healthier Scotland - PR Smarts £1,200,000 Parental Audience - PR Smarts £450,000 Safer - PR Smarts £350,000 Parental Audience - PR Smarts £50,000 Greener - PR Stripe £159,000 Safer - PR Stripe £300,000 Parental Audience - PR Stripe £200,000 Greener - PR Stripe £9,995 Greener - PR Stripe £225,000 Smarter Wealthier Fairer - PR Stripe £750,000 Scotland - PR Stripe £525,000 Greener - PR Stripe £600,000 Smarter Wealthier Fairer - PR Stripe £1,200,000 Brand Scotland - PR Stripe £350,000 Healthier Scotland - PR Stripe £350,000 Net Zero - PR Stripe £150,000 Smarter, Wealthier and Fairer - PR The BIG Partnership £60,000 Smarter, Wealthier and Fairer - PR The BIG Partnership £200,000 Supporting Healthy Choices - PR Weber Shandwick £50,000 Alcohol - PR Weber Shandwick £50,000
The following contracts have been identified from a search of the Scottish Government document management system using a search based on public relations agency name and keyword “contract”.
Poverty & Inequality Commission 3x1 Value based on hourly rate Commission on Local Tax Reform 3x1 £9,160 Independent Review of Qualifications & Assessment 3x1 £14,959 Just Transition Commission 3x1 £14,000
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested in relation to question 1b, 3 and part of 4.
Attachments
No attachments found.