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The Central Office of Information, the UK’s second biggest spending

advertiser, is reviewing its pounds 86m media buying business.

The review could see a shake-up of how government money is spent for

campaigns such as nursing recruitment and anti-drink driving.

Conservative MPs have criticised the rise in government adspend under

Labour.

Last year, the COI’s spend rose by 50% to a total of pounds 92m, putting

it above the likes of BT, Vauxhall and Mars.

The review will include TV, press, cinema and radio buying. The COI

refused to comment on whether it was connected to criticism of the

government’s ad budget.

The statutory review will be announced within the next few weeks and is

likely to take place during the summer.

Successful agencies will have to be in place by September, when existing

contracts come to an end.

MediaVest holds the lion’s share of COI business, following the COI’s

last media centralisation in 1997, which saw its agency roster reduced

from 22 to three agencies.

MediaVest handles TV and press accounts worth pounds 44.7m and pounds

25.87m respectively, Carat handles radio buying, worth pounds 11m, and

Universal McCann holds the government’s cinema account, worth pounds

4.4m. Last year, the COI was the UK’s largest spender in press, radio

and cinema.

The COI’s roster of 13 creative agencies has just undergone an

assessment and will not be reviewed.

Media planning is handled by agencies aligned to the creative shops and

will not be included in the review.

But it is almost certain that the COI and those pitching will be looking

for ways of exploiting new media opportunities.

The review excludes the COI’s pounds 5.9m outdoor account handled by

Portland Outdoor.