According to a report on the BBC’s Politics Show, the Government has spent almost 40% more on advertising in the past year.

The report found through a Freedom of Information request that over the last year the Government had spent £253m on advertising, with Mike Gannett, former head of the Government Information Service claiming that it was the due to the Government looking to for “greater visibility” for what it was doing.

In response, The Cabinet Office said that Government campaigns were crucial and that its online tax return campaign had generated savings of £547m.

A spokesperson for the Government said,  "The Central Office of Information provides the best possible value for money when delivering these campaigns: in 2008-9 it secured a record 49.9% reduction in media costs against recognised industry benchmarks which are certified by both the NAO and OGC.

"However, we are always striving to get even better value for the money we spend on communications. With this in mind, in December the Smarter Government document pledged to cut 25% from marketing and communications budgets by 2014."