In regards to the new bus shelter contract which includes digital advertising screens. In the Borough’s correspondence and on the myjourneywokingham.com website in regards to the new bus shelters with digital advertising screens it says the Council receives ‘a proportion of the income made by any advertising’ shown at the shelters with the screens. The original proposal for these shelters said a proportion of the material shown on the screens would be local information and advertising for local businesses.

I would like to request the following information:

1. What proportion of the income from the advertising screen will Wokingham Borough Council receive?
2. Approximately how much money does this equate to per annum?
The final income which the council will receive is dependent on the income achieved by the supplier as there is a form of revenue share in place. The exact details are commercially sensitive, though our contract register suggests that the value is £1,000,000 for the 10 years; this was the tendered figure to indicate likely value to any bidders. The final figure received by the council is likely to be lower, though at this time we are unable to accurately predict this. This includes the supplier covering the cost of the bus shelter supply, maintenance, repair and servicing/cleaning for these.

3. What proportion of the screen time will be given to local information and advertising local businesses?
The council receives 5% of digital advertising space. Businesses are able to advertise at a 20% discounted rate.

4. What restrictions are there within the contract in relation to advertising on your bus shelters – for example, are there any industries or topics that cannot be advertised?
Within the tender and specification the bidder to confirmed that they would:
• Adhere to the following standards: outdoor advertisement and signs guidance (www.gov.uk), Town and Country Planning (control of advertising) Regulations 2007, Highways Act 1980, WBC Planning policy and WBC’s Vision Priorities and Values.
• All advertisements must adhere to the codes of conduct laid down by the most recent Advertising Regulations and the Advertising Standards Authority, or any other code of practice applicable during the Agreement Period and must not conflict with the Council’s policies.

In addition to the specification stating the requirements above, bidders were asked to answer the question: Provide details of how you plan, schedule and quality check advertising within your advertising placements demonstrating quality checking to ensuring advertising content aligns ethical standards and social responsibility.

The winning bidder stated in their bid that they adhere to ASA guidelines and are members of Outsmart – following their rules, ethical standards and social responsibility commitments, which also forms part of their contract with Wokingham Borough Council.

5. Will Wokingham Borough Council put a comprehensive Advertising and Sponsorship Policy in place to cover the advertising on bus stops. For example, restricting high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) products and products related to the fossil fuel industry (flights, cars, petroleum companies) from being shown?
We do not currently have plans to do this.

6. Who within Wokingham Borough Council is responsible for policies relating to the control of outdoor advertising within the Borough?
Our commercialisation Team would be responsible for this however, regarding advertising content, we work with third party professional advertising houses who abide by the guidance of the various advertising standards advisory bodies.