Government to legislate on publicity code

The Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has published a consultation on new legislation to provide the Secretary of State with powers to force councils to comply with the Publicity Code.

The Publicity Code was most recently revised in March 2011 with the aim of preventing “politically contentious” advertising campaigns, the regular publication of municipal newspapers and the hiring of lobbyists by councils. However, the Government said that a “small minority” of authorities were failing to comply with the code and that further powers were necessary to enforce it.

The 2011 Publicity Code provides specific guidance about the frequency, content and appearance of local authority newspapers, including recommending that principal local authorities limit the publication of any newspaper to once a quarter and parish and town councils limit their newsletters to once a month.

Eric Pickles said:“Some councils are undermining the free press and wasting taxpayers’ money which should be spent carefully on the front line services that make a real difference to quality of life. It should not, under any circumstances, be used to fund political propaganda and town hall Pravdas and yet a hardcore minority of councils continue to ignore the rules despite public concern.

“The line in the sand is clear, publicity material straying into propaganda clearly crosses that line, and this legislation will stop this disgraceful misuse of public money, which damages local democracy and threatens an independent, free and vibrant local press.”

The consultation paper is available here.