You asked
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 would you please tell me the cost of your advertisements about the census in "The Guardian" of 13. 2.21and "The Observer" of 14.2.21.
We said
Thank you for your request.
This information is considered exempt under Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000, as the disclosure of this information would prejudice the commercial interests of ONS, the organisation managing this process, and the papers themselves. Disclosure of the cost of these adverts could negatively impact a third party's ability to generate higher levels of income in the future, as their ability to experience open and fair competition for their advertising services could be compromised.
The use of this exemption is subject to the public interest test. Whilst we recognise the desirability of transparency for information pertaining to government public spending, we also value the public interest in the Government's capability to utilise advertising in high profile news outlets to promote and encourage participation in the census.
Disclosure of the requested information would jeopardise the Government's relationship with advertising services, making them likely to be unwilling to work with us in the future. In turn, this would negatively impact the Government's ability to raise the profile of the census. This is particularly important for the census, as the answers we receive from census forms are vital for enabling the government and local authorities to obtain a detailed picture of our society and subsequently plan for, and fund, local services. Therefore, the protection of the commercial interests of the advertising companies used by the government for the census directly benefits the public by ensuring government decisions are well-informed. Consequently, we find the public interest to be against disclosure in this instance.