Recommendations for robust healthier food advertising policy implementation

Local governments have a healthier food advertising policy when their policy guidance meets the minimum standards, plus they have a strong implementation which should result in switching the spotlight away from unhealthy foods and drinks. Local governments should be aiming to demonstrate good practice, and not simply aiming for the minimum standards. Some local governments are demonstrating excellence in their policy implementation – please see the case studies for more information.

We expect policy standards will improve over time as increasingly robust policies are established and shown to be effective. 

The policy implementation should cover the following:

Internal processes

• Regular (at least quarterly) meetings between public health and all other teams involved in or connected to advertising in any capacity for example, transport and highways, communications, planning, legal and environmental health.
• This group is responsible for:
  • ensuring that the advertising policy is being implemented robustly across all local government sites between the advertising policy being signed off and former contracts ending.
  • Keeping a map of all local government advertising sites up-to-date and ensuring it is shared with the public health team and scrutiny teams so that spot checks and audits can be carried out at any time independently from commercial teams and advertisers.
  • Ensuring there is funding and capacity available for the policy to be undergo annual reviews, a minimum of quarterly meetings for all involved teams, audits and any planned updates and extensions of the policy.
  • Ensuring support is made available for small and medium sized enterprises e.g. in the form of guidance on the council website in multiple languages.
  • Clear communications for the policy both internally and externally. For example, a communications plan to raise awareness internally via routes such as briefing all managers, and a webpage which sets out more information externally.

The public health team's responsibilities

• The advertising policy is listed within at least one person’s job description and/or annual workplan within the public health team to ensure that:
  • There is responsibility and capacity within public health for policy oversight regardless of staff turnover
  • The policy is held accountable to its original aims as set out by public health
• There is continued engagement with Sustain’s work so that the local government stays up to date with good practice.
• Carry out annual reviews to:
  • Evaluate extent to which all of the above is in place and the policy is meeting its public health/wider council aims
  • Track advertising revenue
  • Examine ambitions to strengthen and extend the policy and steps to make this happen
• Annual reviews should be submitted into leadership or scrutiny on an annual basis so that there is some accountability for the policy progress.
• Carry out audits (at least annually, but ideally this should be completed quarterly) to evaluate compliance with the policy across the advertising estate. This should be completed by actors that are independent from the advertising companies and commercial teams.

Enforcement

• The implementation of the policy must ensure there are mechanisms to discover breaches:
  • Local government is sent all advertising copy from the contracted advertiser(s)
  • Local government regularly (at least quarterly) reviews all advertising copy
• There are processes to hold companies to account for a breach including financial, legal and contractual disincentives. For example: advertisers receive written warnings after every breach. After three written warnings, there is a financial penalty and/or the local government can terminate the contract with the advertiser.

Contract with advertiser

• The tendering process should prioritise applicants that can strongly evidence how they will comply with the policy.
• The contract will include agreement to share all advertising copy that is displayed across the local government advertising estate quarterly.

Recommendations

For local governments:

• Bring in strong policies that follow all Sustain's recommendations for excellence in policy guidance and implementation.
• Stay up to date with this policy area by engaging with Sustain’s work for local governments pre- and post- sign off.

For national government:

Bring in restrictions of all unhealthy food and drink advertising across outdoor advertising spaces as soon as possible so that:

• The benefits demonstrated by the policy can be felt across the country
• Local governments no longer have to work to get these policies over the line individually – which requires considerable capacity and resource – instead of a nationally mandated change.
• The restrictions can be extended to all outdoor advertising sites including those owned by private advertisers. Currently local governments only restrict across their own advertising estate which is a fraction of advertising within their local area.