Viewers are used to seeing adverts for big brands on their TVs, but in the past few weeks their ad breaks have featured . . . Hertfordshire County Council.

The 30-second advert highlights council services including the Fire and Rescue Service, early years and social care. 

It is part of the council's 'We are Hertfordshire County Council' campaign, which is designed to increase understanding of the council's services.

And over a four-week period it has reached around 19,000 Hertfordshire homes with a Sky TV subscription.

At a meeting of the county council on Tuesday (October 15) Liberal Democrat Cllr Tim Williams put the spotlight on the "self-praising" advert.

And he questioned why – at a time when county council staff are facing redundancy – the council had spent money in this way.

According to council officials, the overall price of the "low-cost" campaign – which includes posters in public buildings, billboards at bus stops and posts on social media channels – is around £20,000.

And they say the targeted TV advertising accounts for around £4,500 of that.

But following the meeting Cllr Williams told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the advert was "unnecessary" – suggesting that the money should be spent on the council's front-line services.

"I find it quite a misplaced priority by the administration to spend money on this self-praising advert," he said.

"It is a glossy, well-produced advert – but is it really needed?

"I have been told it's like an information bulletin, but I personally think it's trying to feature Hertfordshire County Council in a good light

"I like to think most people know what services are there – and can find out by many other means. The TV advert is unnecessary."

Addressing the cost of the campaign, he suggests there are better ways that the money could be spent – pointing, by way of example, to SEND services, highway infrastructure and bus services.

And he highlights the council's ongoing 'organisational resourcing' programme – which aims to reduce the number of council posts by around 400 by the end of the year.

"I think in this never-ending austerity period – when councils are strapped for cash – there are better ways to spend money, on front-line services," he said.

"Tens of thousands is a lot of money. It can help in those areas. With an overall budget of £1.2bn, its a lesser amount – but every penny counts."

Cllr Williams says he was alerted to the advert by a resident who had seen it flash up on Sky Sports.

"When I heard I was quite amazed – and the resident also expressed shock that the council going down this route," he said.

"A lot of residents do see the state of the highways, wait for buses all the time. And when they find out that money has been spent on advertising, I think they will see it as a misplaced priority."

However county council officials have defended the approach.

They say the campaign responds to a survey that suggested residents weren't fully aware of the services the county council offered.

And they stress that as well as some paid-for activity, the campaign focusses on free channels, such as the council's own website and social media channels.

"We developed our We are Hertfordshire County Council public information campaign to improve understanding of the council's work in response to findings from our 2023 Residents' Survey which highlighted gaps in people's knowledge of the services we provide and recommendations of independent national research which shows the impact this can have on public trust," said a spokesperson for the county council. 

"This is a low-cost campaign which mainly uses free channels such as our own website, social media channels and community networks alongside some paid-for activity – including targeted advertising on Sky TV – to reach as many people in Hertfordshire as possible and highlight the services residents and their families access from their earliest moments though to the later stages of life. "

According to the county council, the targeted TV adverts ran between September 8 and October 9 and reached more than 19,000 households with Sky TV subscriptions.

They estimate that the overall campaign has reached in excess of 100,000 residents, so far.

The 30-second piece of footage that was used as a TV advert can be viewed here and at the top of this page.