This Application Must Be Submitted for Any Communications Campaign Or Programme with A

OFFICIAL

Advertising & Marketing Spending Controls
Professional Assurance application to Minister for the Constitution

This application must be submitted for any communications campaign or programme with a value of £100,000 or over (per year). It will be assessed by the GCS Professional Assurance team and submitted to the Minister for the Constitution for their consideration. It should be 4-5 pages in length.

Please engage early with the Professional Assurance team as you prepare your application: this allows time for initial feedback before it is officially submitted and positions us well to return a Ministerial decision within our SLA of 21 days. Further information is available on the GCS website or via .

Title of communications activity
Start and end date of activity / From X/X/XX to X/X/XX
Date you require a decision
Total proposed expenditure (£)
Expenditure anticipated in Communication Single Budget / [Pleas explain why spend now requested is different from CSB if applicable. Campaigns not included in CSB should explain why this was the case, and why the campaign is now critical]
Which financial year’s budget is this activity funded from?
What is the source of this funding? / [If it is not the lead dept’s communications budget, please provide details]
Has this activity run in previous years? / [If yes, give date(s) and Professional Assurance reference number (HMGXXXX)]
Previous expenditure (if applicable) / [Provide details of spend by financial year. Is spend up/down/the same?]
Department (parent department if ALB)
ALB (if appropriate)
Minister approving (full name, title)
Departmental Director of Communications approving
Name and contact details of person completing this form
Do you intend to use an external agency support for this activity? If so, please highlight the CCS framework that will be used? / RM3774
Campaign Solutions / RM3796
Communications Services / RM1051
Media Buying / RM1086 MR130001
Market Research / RM3708
Media Monitoring
[Please specify lots included if known] / [Please specify lots included if known] / [Please specify lots included if known]
Please specify when brief(s) will be sent agencies / mm/yy
If none, please provide a reason for not using a CCS framework
On what basis will you engage external agency support – please highlight? / Call-off contract for a single specific campaign / Call-off from a standby agreement / Call-off from a retainer agreement
If you are engaging an agency to support the initial strategy development for your activity, please supply a copy of your draft agency brief with this application. If you are not yet in a position to fully complete any of the fields below, please include an explanatory note.
Which theme of the government’s narrative does this activity support? / [Stronger, fairer economy / truly global Britain / more caring society / strong new relationship with Europe / essential public service]
Context and background / [In brief, how has this campaign come about? What needs done and why is it important? What related communications activity been run before / will run alongside this?]
Policy aim / [Include reference on any published government strategies, papers or commitments]
Communications objectives / [What is the intended outcome of this activity? Include specific SMART communication objectives, numeric wherever possible. If it is designed to change behaviour, describe the change required.]
Target audience(s) / [Include primary and secondary audience types, any key segmenting factors (eg. age, gender, geography) or specific target groups and why they are being targeted. Please include related audience insight such as motivations and barriers for identified segments].
Communications strategy, ideas and implementation / [Outline strategy, proposition/messaging, channels, partners/influencers, etc.
If you propose commercial partnerships, have you contacted the CO Business Partnerships Team?
How will your campaign be delivered across the UK? Have you discussed with the GCS Local team?
For any spend related to new websites or apps, complete the Technology & Digital Spend section]
Activity branding / [How will this activity be branded? Please refer to Government’s Identity System. e.g. HMG Master Brand/Departmental Brand/Campaign Specific Brand. If campaign specific, please provide details]
Evidence of effectiveness and evaluation / [What evidence underpins your approach? How and when will the activity be evaluated to demonstrate effectiveness?]
Delivery plan / [Outline the key milestones for the activity. Are resources in place to deliver?]
Summary and breakdown of spend
[Insert/delete lines as appropriate] / [Your description does not need to include / £0
very detailed line items, but should be / £0
relatively specific eg. not just ‘media’] / £0
What steps have been taken to ensure this activity represents value for money?
What is the expected return on this marketing investment (as ROI figure)?
PROFESSIONAL ASSURANCE TEAM TO COMPLETE
Assessment of proposal
Recommendation
Conditions (if applicable)

This form should be completed by the Digital leader within the department for any spend on design or creation of a new website or apps. For more details on filling out this section, please see the Technology Code of Practice.

Departmental digital lead approving
Control Threshold
At what stage are you seeking approval?
Critical Dates / [Specific dates and related activities that influence this approval]
Summarise the proposed technology
[max 300 words] / [Provide a summary of the technology required to deliver the required outcomes with reference to the Technology Code of Practice where applicable]
PREVIOUS APPROVALS
Previously approved and spent / £0
Approved to be spent between now and next approval / £0
Requires further approval / £0
Total project cost / £0
HIGH LEVEL FINANCES (FINANCIAL CASE)
Approved spend brought forward / £0
Technology capital expenditure / £0
Technology operational expenditure / £0
Non-technology operational expenditure / £0
Transition / exit costs / £0
Value requested now / £0
Total cost / £0
Cost of “do-nothing” / £0
Total savings proposed / achieved / £0
IT APPROACH AND BUDGET NARRATIVE
TITLE / DESCRIPTION / CONTRACT TYPE / EXPENDITURE
[e.g. hosting] / [e.g. 2 servers] / [e.g. digital services] / £0
£0
ATTACHMENTS
Name of attachment [e.g. business case]
Reason for attachment [e.g. financial forecast]
USERS
Who will use the new service/solution / USER / USER NEED
[e.g. citizen] / [e.g. want to watch campaign video]
[insert user] / [insert user need]
[insert user] / [insert used need]
Evidence to support this need / [user feedback, web metrics etc]
Proposed domain name
If your site is not on GOV.UK, provide details as to why the site is exempt. Supporting emails should be attached
Will this proposal require users to be identified and/or authenticated? / YES/NO [specify who]
Does this proposal deliver a digital service? / YES/NO
How is the technology being purchased? / [e.g. GCloud, Digital Services Framework, OJEU]