The UK’s advertising watchdog is investigating complaints about Westminster’s levelling-up campaign in Scotland after it was criticised for allegedly misleading the public.
One advertisement has been reported to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for exaggerating the amount of funding that Glasgow’s Burrell Collection, the international art museum, is receiving from the scheme.
The advert states that “levelling up means £68 million to reopen the world famous Burrell Collection”. However, the £68 million was raised mostly by Glasgow city council, which contributed £33 million. A further £30.25 million was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Scottish government and private donors.
The UK government pledged £5 million but those funds came from a boost provided to devolved administrations from the Covid-19 culture recovery fund. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities yesterday said that none of the levelling-up funds had been invested in the Burrell reopening. The Pollok Stables and Sawmill project has been confirmed as the only one in Glasgow to receive a levelling-up award. The council has been given £13 million to transform the site into a net-zero heritage and community centre.
The levelling-up white paper was presented by Michael Gove in the Commons last month. It promised £4.8 billion to back regeneration projects across the UK, improve railways, introduce gigabit broadband throughout the nations and ensure more government functions and civil servants are moved out of London as part of investment across the country.
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The Department for Levelling Up said it could not disclose how much had been spent on the advertising campaign across Scotland.
The ASA has said it is in the process of deciding if there are grounds for further investigation after the complaints.
A spokesman for the Westminster government said: “Levelling up all parts of the UK requires a huge collaborative effort from central and local government and the private and public sector.”
Michael Russell, the president of the SNP, said: “They can put up as many posters as they like, but the reality is what people see: the Tories don’t give a fig about what happens in Scotland, Glasgow or elsewhere. It’s all lies and it’s a waste of money, paper and advertising space.”
