Ads for gambling, payday loans, cigarettes and weapons will be banned from council-owned sites under new rules voted through yesterday.
Brighton and Hove City Council will also look into finding new sites they can sell ads from, including building site hoardings, scaffolding wraps, vans, road signs or bike racks.
Cabinet members voted to update the city-wide advertising policy to manage all council-owned advertising sites and sponsorship, which already includes bans on sugar and junk food adverts.
It will also ban adverts for fossil fuel production, covering items such as coal, oil or gas. It does not apply to privately owned sites.
Councillors also backed joining the Coalition to End Gambling Ads.
A pilot will now be carried out to identify three to five low-risk sites to test demand for advertising space.
Cabinet member for customer services, public realm and local government Jacob Allen said the policy aimed to help the council generate money for public services while holding “firm red lines”.
Councillor Allen said: “We want to commission advertising and sponsorship opportunities without compromising our principles, our values, or our vision for a better Brighton and Hove.
“After years of austerity, councils across the country have been left having to do more with less, while demand for the services we provide continues to grow.
“But as a Labour administration, we are absolutely clear that our response cannot simply be to manage decline.”
He said the policy would create a coordinated approach across the council for advertising, sponsorship and brand partnerships
Councillor Allen said: “We will be able to identify opportunities across our council-owned assets, including buildings, digital platforms, publications, events and appropriate spaces within the public realm.
“Importantly, we will have clearer processes for deciding what is acceptable, who approves it, and how those arrangements are managed.”
Green councillor Pete West highlighted Bristol City Council’s policy bans advertising for fast fashion, high-carbon transport, and fossil fuel-related companies.
During opposition questions, he said: “In these especially straitened times, with growing public worries about making ends meet, will this council learn from the best and ensure an increased presence of advertising on council assets doesn’t lead to a deterioration in mental health?”
Councillor Allen responded to say the policy was developed to align with the council’s existing values.
Deputy leader councillor Jacob Taylor said opposition councillors opposed any moves to generate money from new commercial outlets, while finding everything that is wrong and needs fixing without a “magic pot of money”.
Councillor Taylor said: “Of course we would like a magic pot of money to come down from somewhere, but it does seem to me strange that in advocating that position, they seem to oppose any of the real pots that actually emerge in terms of capital and revenue.
“I think this is the right direction and a good thing to do.”
Council leader Bella Sankey said: “I hope by taking a more strategic approach to how we advertise in the city and what space is available to advertise, we would also be able to increase the reach of what this council is doing, the services that we provide or the support we might be asking residents for, whether that is fostering or other asks as well.”
