Advertising, marketing and communications spending control guidance

The Government Communication Service (GCS) works with all central government organisations to ensure that, where taxpayers’ money is being spent on government communications, it is cost-effective and reflects best practices.

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Spending controls

The Cabinet Office spending controls help organisations to reduce unnecessary spending. They also encourage cross-government collaboration. The Cabinet Office operates the controls on behalf of HM Treasury. The controls cover many different areas of spending, including advertising, marketing and communications (AMC).

The AMC spending controls apply to campaigns, projects or programmes with planned communications expenditure of £100,000 or more within a financial year (FY). Read the ‘Advertising, marketing, and communications controls’ to learn more about the threshold and the types of expenditure that are within the scope of the control.

Breaches of the controls are serious and may lead to financial sanctions.

AMC spending approval process

Follow the process below to request approval for advertising, marketing, and communications spend above the £100,000 threshold.

Stage 1: Submit a strategic case

Before the beginning of the financial year (between October and December), departments and ALBs submit an overview of any campaigns and programmes of communications planned for the next financial year. This is known as the strategic planning exercise.

Strategic cases are submitted via the ‘Get Approval to Spend’ (GATS) tool. The GCS then assigns a RAG (red, amber or green) rating for each case, which determines the level of assurance applied to campaigns in the next stage.

Stage 2: Professional assurance (PASS)

Campaigns rated as red or amber

You must submit a technical case form in GATS and receive Cabinet Office approval before committing to spend above the threshold. Approval decisions for amber-rated cases are made by GCS senior officials, while decisions on red-rated cases are made by the relevant Cabinet Office minister. The relevant GCS lead can support you in developing your technical case.

Campaigns rated as green

Campaigns that receive a green rating at strategic planning are considered approved, subject to any conditions set. No technical case will be required.

Unanticipated cases

For any campaigns that were not anticipated in the strategic planning exercise, cases are treated as red-rated and you must submit a technical case to GCS for approval. Unanticipated cases will be challenged and will only be accepted where the need for communications could not reasonably have been foreseen.

Technical cases should be approved by the relevant organisation’s Director of Communications, before being formally submitted to GCS for approval. The expenditure must also have received all relevant internal approvals. 

When your technical case is ready to be formally submitted, send the completed template to communications.controls@cabinetoffice.gov.uk, copying the relevant GCS lead.

Stage 3: Meeting conditions set on spending approval

If your AMC spending control application is approved, you will receive an HMG approval code. This code should be included in all briefs and other paperwork related to the case.

Spending control approval may be contingent upon meeting specific conditions. These will be set out in the decision letter sent to your Director of Communications and you will be asked to respond to these conditions in GATS.

Our acceptance of any application for spending in a subsequent financial year will be dependent on you meeting any conditions set on previous approvals. All approved campaigns must submit quarterly KPI reporting, as well as an end-of-year evaluation report to GCS. The end-of-year report should outline the results achieved against the campaign’s objectives, identify any lessons learnt and provide recommendations for future activity. 

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

The GCS works to a 21 calendar day SLA from the date that a technical case is formally submitted. We cannot guarantee a response faster than this so please ensure the 21-day turnaround is factored into your planning for campaign delivery. 

For cases submitted after midday, the SLA will commence the following day. The SLA does not apply during parliamentary recess.

Contacts

If submitting an application, your case will be overseen by one of the following GCS leads (contact them via the GCS Connect Directory):

  • Economic growth: Ellen McPherson
  • Clean energy: Emma Hill
  • Health and the NHS: Ellen McPherson
  • Opportunity: Leonie Blakeway, Nina Peronius, Ailsa Brown
  • Safer streets: Jenny Sheils, Ayesha Carmouche
  • Other:
    • Recruitment: Emma Hill
    • Safety: Ayesha Carmouche
    • Public service delivery: Ailsa Brown, Nina Peronius, Jenny Sheils

For any other general enquiries about the AMC spend control scope or process, email communications.controls@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

An online training course is also available via Connect, our member-only platform.

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