Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
FOI Reference: FOI/202500489522
Date received: 17 October 2025
Date responded: 6 November 2025
Information requested
You sent six separate requests asking for the following information across six different benefits:
Request for information 1: In each of the last five financial years up to October 2025 (or most recent date) the total spent on TV and social media advertising (broken down by year).
Request for information 2: The cost of each advert and the breakdown between different services (TV, YouTube, streaming services).
Request for information 3: An analysis on the success or otherwise of the advertising campaign.
Response to your request Requests for information 1 and 2:
On 15 October 2025, we responded to your prior request for information 202500485196. Parts 1 and 3 of that request were for:
We interpreted these requests to relate to all benefits delivered by Social Security Scotland, and note that your six new requests are for the specific benefits outlined above, albeit across a slightly wider timescale. To locate and retrieve the information which you are now requesting would still require Social Security Scotland to interrogate all of the same invoices as would have been required to be interrogated for your prior request 202500485196, as we are unable to carry out any initial disaggregation of the data by benefit.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. The information requested is not held in a readily accessible format and locating it would require a manual review of a substantial volume of individual invoices. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.
You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. For example, by requesting the information for the last financial year. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: How do I ask for information? | Scottish Information Commissioner
Request for information 3:
Campaign performance is assessed using a range of measures tailored to the specific aims, channels, and resources of each campaign. These may include indicators such as engagement with digital content, visits to signposted websites, and levels of audience understanding and intended actions.
While these measures help inform internal evaluation, the primary aim of most campaigns is to support benefit take-up. However, the majority of campaigns are run to support Social Security Scotland’s commitment to ensuring that everyone who is eligible for support receives it (benefit take up). The Scottish Government publishes annual take-up rates each year. The most recent publication was published on 14 October 2025 and can be found here:
Take-up Rates of Scottish Benefits: October 2025 - gov.scot
Take-up Rates of Scottish Benefits: October 2025 - Easy Read: https://www.gov.scot/publications/take-up-rates-scottish-benefits-october-2025-easy-read/
About FOI
Social Security Scotland is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. The Scottish Government also publishes responses to requests. You can view the responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.