Central Office of Information

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Central Office of Information (COI)
Department overview

Formed	1946
Preceding Department	Ministry of Information
Dissolved	2011
Superseding Department	Cabinet Office
Jurisdiction	United Kingdom
Headquarters	Hercules House, Hercules Road, London SE1 7DU
Minister responsible	Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Central Office of Information (COI) was the UK government's marketing and communications agency. Its chief executive reported to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. It was a non-ministerial department, and became an executive agency and a trading fund subject to the Government Trading Funds Act 1973, recovering its costs from the other departments, executive agencies and publicly funded bodies which used its services.

History

The COI was established in 1946 as the successor to the wartime Ministry of Information, when individual government departments resumed responsibility for information policy.^[1] It worked with Whitehall departments and public bodies to produce information campaigns on issues that affected the lives of British citizens, from health and education to benefits, rights and welfare.

COI celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2006 with several events including a film season at the National Film Theatre and a poll to find Britain's favourite public information film on the BBC website.^[2]

From 2010, governmental spending on marketing fell considerably. This was because of the Coalition Government's policy to support only essential campaigns.^[3] As a result, the government announced that COI would be closed and its remaining functions transferred to the Cabinet Office.^[4]

The Central Office of Information closed on 30 December 2011.^[5]

Reputation

A representative of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (IBSA), a trade body for advertisers in the UK, described the COI in 2009 as holding "a very high reputation amongst ISBA members, and indeed, in the industry as a whole, for being robust, transparent and fair", and in regard to its tendering processes, being "at the pinnacle of best practice".^[6]

Among the general public, PIFs commissioned by the COI were known for their grim and eerie style.

References

^ "COI - About COI". 19 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
^ Wilson, Giles (28 March 2006). "Stop Look Listen: And the winner is..." BBC News Online. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
^ Cabinet Office (23 June 2011). "Government publishes response to COI review - Press releases - GOV.UK". Cabinetoffice.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
^ "Government ad agency COI to be closed down". BBC News Online. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
^ Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13 p88
^ Morrison, D., quoted in Information Tribunal, Mr Fred Keene v IC (Freedom of Information Act 2000) [2009] UKFTT EA_2008_0097 (GRC) (14 September 2009), paragraph 29, accessed 16 May 2024

External links

(Archived) "Central Office of Information". United Kingdom Government, Central Office of Information (defunct). Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2013.

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