Advertising Industry Issues Responses to the King's Speech 2024

Image credit: Samuel Regan-Asante via Unsplash

The IPA, ISBA and the Advertising Association have issued responses to some of the elements announced in the King’s Speech today (17 July 2024).

These include the announcement of legislation to restrict the advertising of less healthy foods to children, reform to the Apprenticeship Levy and on changes to employment rights.

IPA director general Paul Bainsfair

“We very much welcome Labour’s Growth agenda, as highlighted in the King’s Speech today. As we know, advertising is a lever for growth and so we look forward to working with them to progress our mutual success.

With regards to some specific points made today:

We worked with the previous Government, and look forward to working with the new one, on implementing the restrictions on ads for less healthy foods. However, we are still waiting for the Advertising (Less Healthy Food Definitions and Exemptions) Regulations to be passed so that agencies and advertisers can understand which products will be in scope of the restrictions and any exemptions that may apply. We called on the previous Government, several times, to bring in those regulations, but to no avail. We hope that the new Government will bring them in as a matter of urgency.

Regarding the changes to the Apprenticeship Levy, as we have stated previously, while we support apprenticeships, we have requested greater flexibility on how agencies can use the Levy and look forward to learning how Labour’s new reform may better suit our industry’s needs.

In terms of the Employment Rights Bill, while we appreciate that the purpose of this Bill is to strengthen workers' rights, we would ask for a sensible balance to be struck in order that businesses have the flexibility to grow and are not hampered by further onerous obligations.”

Phil Smith, director general, ISBA

“The importance for brands of the new Government’s agenda has been reinforced by the King’s Speech, which shows how fundamental the change coming to the advertising and marketing sector will be over the coming years.

The overwhelming mission of the new administration, economic growth, will be underpinned by the success of our industry. Proposed laws on product safety, skills, digital identity and data will all have a profound impact, and we look forward to working constructively with Ministers as more detail comes forward.

Brands will certainly welcome stability in terms of personnel, and swift action when it comes to the leftover business of the previous Government – namely, the secondary legislation which is urgently needed so that the new restrictions on food and drink advertising, due to come in next year, can proceed and be complied with.

In common with all other parts of our economy and society, we are also on the brink of a transformation thanks to AI. We look forward to discussing a UK regulatory approach which enables us to harness its creative power and drive innovation.

The first King’s Speech of a new Government is always a reset moment. In opposition, the Labour Party talked about working in partnership with business for national renewal. We anticipate this approach from the new Government, and advertisers playing their part as responsible actors in meeting the economic and social challenges ahead.”

Lisa Hayley-Jones, director of policy & government affairs, Advertising Association

“Today’s King's Speech gives our members a clear indication of what to expect from this new Labour government. The wide-ranging legislative package of 40 Bills is designed to drive growth across the regions and nations, and support sustainable growth by encouraging investment in industry, skills and new technologies

The Advertising Association welcomes the establishment of Skills England and reform of the apprenticeship levy which we have long called for. We also welcome the new Council of the Nations and increased powers for metro mayors to collaborate together to drive growth. The advertising industry employs over 360,000 people across the UK and we look forward to working together with the Government and mayors on its mandate.

We strongly welcome that the Government has listened to the concerns of our sector and committed to introduce secondary legislation on HFSS advertising. This will help to bring the much-needed certainty that our sector has been asking for ahead of the restrictions coming into force in October 2025.

The Advertising Association notes the Government has pledged to introduce powers to regulate AI and look forwards to working with Ministers on this important issue. We will continue our dialogue with Government on data reforms for our industry, to help ensure the UK remains a world-leading data-driven economy.  

We look forward to seeing more details of the government’s legislative agenda in the coming days.”