Ethical and Low Carbon Advertising Policy Motion
This Council notes:
· That it is possible for local authorities to implement advertising policies against specific products if they consider them to be harmful to the amenity of an area. This Council notes that the Greater London Authority (GLA), which controls Transport for London (TFL) property, was able to enact a Healthier Food Advertising Policy in 2018 prohibiting High Fat, Sugar or Salt (HFSS) food advertising on TFL property.
· That the continued paid promotion of activities or products that are potentially harmful to mental or physical health or the environment, such as junk food, gambling, alcohol or high carbon products (including cars, fossil fuel companies and airlines and airports), are very common across a variety of out-of-home advertising media.
· That statistical evidence shows how exposure to advertising increases consumption of advertised goods and services and, where these are carbon intensive, higher consumption takes us further away from Net Zero. However, a ban on advertising for unhealthy food across the Transport for London network resulted in a drop in household purchases of unhealthy food and drink, preventing 100,000 obesity cases with an expected saving to the NHS of £200 million.
· That advertising prohibitions and restrictions already exist regarding all tobacco products and e-cigarettes, guns and offensive weapons, breath testing and products designed to mask the effects of alcohol, ‘pyramid schemes’, as well as other rules regarding marketing to children, HFSS products, medical and health claims, religion and financial products.
· That many advertising companies are switching to digital boards that allows them to sell many more advertising slots, however, these digital boards consume huge amounts of unnecessary energy. A double-sided digital bus stop advertising screen uses four times the electricity of an average British home whilst a digital billboard can use eleven times the energy of an average British home (https://adfreecities.org.uk/2019/11/the-electricity-cost-of-digital-adverts).
· The bright illumination of digital billboards at night has a detrimental effect on local wildlife, in direct opposition to the Ecological Emergency declared by this Council.
· That the purpose of advertising is to stimulate demand for goods and services, most of which are national and international brands, not local businesses, with limited benefits to the local economy.
· That some advertising content undermines the Council’s objectives regarding air pollution and sustainable consumption. For example: petrol and diesel car adverts (especially for Sports Utility Vehicles) undermine air quality objectives, airline advertising undermines carbon emission targets and, whilst this Council is not the local health authority, HFSS products undermine the health of Exeter’s residents.
· That banning advertising for certain products is not the same as banning the products themselves.
This Council resolves to:
(1) To develop and implement an Ethical Advertising Policy as part of the Council's planning policies, to apply to bus stops, billboards and advertising spaces within the jurisdiction of the local planning area and embed this within the Local Plan. This policy would then be used to set targets, expectations or restrictions on all advertising in the city that interacts with the Council’s objectives on public health, air pollution, climate change and more sustainable consumption and to ascertain which companies and products the Council wishes to associate itself with and support, including local businesses, and ban harmful products, companies or services from being advertised on Council owned land, in our communications, or from sponsoring council organised events.
(2) To review any Advertising Concession Agreements to investigate the possibility of amending the current set of prohibitions and restrictions to include products and services that contribute to climate change and air pollution. Should this not be possible, to begin work on a new agreement for when any such agreements are next renewed.
(3) To adopt a presumption against planning permission for all new digital advertising screens in the City due to the high energy use of these technologies.
(4) Embed these low carbon advertising principles within the Local Plan, including the requirement to switch off digital screens at night.
(5) Write to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, asking for a ban on such forms of unethical advertising nationally.
(6) Write to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities asking for reforms to Planning Guidance on outdoor advertising to take into account the unique problems with energy-intensive digital billboards.
Minutes:
Councillor Sparling, seconded by Councillor Read, moved a Notice of Motion in the following terms:-
Ethical and Low Carbon Advertising Policy Motion
This Council notes:
· That it is possible for local authorities to implement advertising policies against specific products if they consider them to be harmful to the amenity of an area. This Council notes that the Greater London Authority (GLA), which controls Transport for London (TFL) property, was able to enact a Healthier Food Advertising Policy in 2018 prohibiting High Fat, Sugar or Salt (HFSS) food advertising on TFL property.
· That the continued paid promotion of activities or products that are potentially harmful to mental or physical health or the environment, such as junk food, gambling, alcohol or high carbon products (including cars, fossil fuel companies and airlines and airports), are very common across a variety of out-of-home advertising media.
· That statistical evidence shows how exposure to advertising increases consumption of advertised goods and services and, where these are carbon intensive, higher consumption takes us further away from Net Zero. However, a ban on advertising for unhealthy food across the Transport for London network resulted in a drop in household purchases of unhealthy food and drink, preventing 100,000 obesity cases with an expected saving to the NHS of £200 million.
· That advertising prohibitions and restrictions already exist regarding all tobacco products and e-cigarettes, guns and offensive weapons, breath testing and products designed to mask the effects of alcohol, ‘pyramid schemes’, as well as other rules regarding marketing to children, HFSS products, medical and health claims, religion and financial products.
· That many advertising companies are switching to digital boards that allows them to sell many more advertising slots, however, these digital boards consume huge amounts of unnecessary energy. A double-sided digital bus stop advertising screen uses four times the electricity of an average British home whilst a digital billboard can use eleven times the energy of an average British home (https://adfreecities.org.uk/2019/11/the-electricity-cost-of-digital-adverts).
· The bright illumination of digital billboards at night has a detrimental effect on local wildlife, in direct opposition to the Ecological Emergency declared by this Council.
· That the purpose of advertising is to stimulate demand for goods and services, most of which are national and international brands, not local businesses, with limited benefits to the local economy.
· That some advertising content undermines the Council’s objectives regarding air pollution and sustainable consumption. For example: petrol and diesel car adverts (especially for Sports Utility Vehicles) undermine air quality objectives, airline advertising undermines carbon emission targets and, whilst this Council is not the local health authority, HFSS products undermine the health of Exeter’s residents.
· That banning advertising for certain products is not the same as banning the products themselves.
This Council resolves to:
(1) To develop and implement an Ethical Advertising Policy as part of the Council's planning policies, to apply to bus stops, billboards and advertising spaces within the jurisdiction of the local planning area and embed this within the Local Plan. This policy would then be used to set targets, expectations or restrictions on all advertising in the city that interacts with the Council’s objectives on public health, air pollution, climate change and more sustainable consumption and to ascertain which companies and products the Council wishes to associate itself with and support, including local businesses, and ban harmful products, companies or services from being advertised on Council owned land, in our communications, or from sponsoring council organised events.
(2) To review any Advertising Concession Agreements to investigate the possibility of amending the current set of prohibitions and restrictions to include products and services that contribute to climate change and air pollution. Should this not be possible, to begin work on a new agreement for when any such agreements are next renewed.
(3) To adopt a presumption against planning permission for all new digital advertising screens in the City due to the high energy use of these technologies.
(4) Embed these low carbon advertising principles within the Local Plan, including the requirement to switch off digital screens at night.
(5) Write to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, asking for a ban on such forms of unethical advertising nationally.
(6) Write to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities asking for reforms to Planning Guidance on outdoor advertising to take into account the unique problems with energy-intensive digital billboards.
The Leader proposed an amendment that, in accordance with Standing Order 6 (5), this Motion be referred to the appropriate Scrutiny Committee and then reported to Council in due course. Councillor Wright seconded the amendment.
A Member, in supporting the amendment, suggested that Devon County Council be involved in the review because of their contract with Adshell, the providers of the digital advertising screens in bus shelters and to involve the Exeter Highways and Traffic Orders Committee.
Councillor Sparling supported the amendment.
The amendment was voted upon and CARRIED unanimously.
The amendment accordingly became the substantive motion and, following a vote, the Notice of Motion, as amended, was CARRIED unanimously.
RECOMMENDED that this Motion be referred to the Strategic Scrutiny Committee for a report and then be brought back to Council in due course.