Freedom of Information Request - Advertising costs over last 10 years
Date: 25 November 2025
Our ref: SIR182218/A5578183
Information Request – Advertising costs over last 10 years
Your Request
(1) ‘Across the last 10 years what is the total cost to your organisation of all forms of advertising (please can you break that up by year)?
(2) Please could you break the answer to (1) up by form of advertising?
(3) In terms of (1) could you break your answer up into theme of advertising campaign?’
Our Response
Following a search of the information we hold our response is below. Please note, we have defined ‘advertising’ as covering media promotion and recruitment (advertising).
Our retention period for this information is 7 years. We have excluded some transactions where, due to this, it has not been possible to validate the data.
| Financial Year | Total Media Promotion (£) | Total Recruitment Promotion (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 2015/16 | 59,740 | 12,245.86 |
| 2016/17 | 132,443.04 | 8078.25 |
| 2017/18 | 57,729.93 | 50,016.33 |
| 2018/19 | 63,207.40 | 35,052.20 |
| 2019/20 | 75,639.76 | 7271.86 |
| 2020/21 | 112,111.70 | 13,165.76 |
| 2021/22 | 222,212.97 | 65,461.58 |
| 2022/23 | 252,136.46 | 85,624.67 |
| 2023/24 | 249,767.17 | 73,201.52 |
| 2024/25 | 281,797.73 | 38,058.15 |
We capture and store this information in a way that supports our business processes, but this does not enable us to answer Questions 2 and 3 accurately across all the payments included in response to Question 1. This therefore means EIRs Regulation 10(4)(a) (Information not held) applies to your request for the information.
However, in general terms, types of advertising we have used over this period include online, e.g. social media platforms, printed publications, e.g. newspapers, and radio commercials.
Advertising campaign themes over this period have included: Peatland ACTION, the Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC), Make Space for Nature, our National Nature Reserves, and the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF). In some cases, payments also cover general services and are not specific to a particular campaign.
How We Handled Your Request
We believe you have asked for environmental information as defined in the Environmental Information (Scotland Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’), so we are dealing with your request under those regulations. To be able to use the EIRs, we must apply an exemption under section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (‘FOISA’). The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance recommends that public authorities apply this exemption to environmental information and handle request under the EIRs.
If you would like to find out more about the access to information legislation, there is a guidance booklet available on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website.
Review and Appeal
I hope this information meets your requirements, but if you are dissatisfied with how we have responded to your information request, please write to us within 40 working days explaining your concerns. You can contact us at Battleby, Redgorton, Perth, PH1 3EW or email us at [email protected]. We will carry out a review of our response and contact you with our findings within 20 working days.
If you are not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner within 6 months. The Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Yours sincerely
FOI Officer,
NatureScot
