Ministers have finally revealed how much two influencers were paid to promote its £3.6 million back-to-school campaign after lockdown – releasing an eight-word response after a two-and-a-half year battle for transparency.
The fight is likely to have cost the Cabinet Office thousands of pounds more on top of the £13,000 it has now admitted it paid the pair during August 2020.
The government department – previously slammed by MPs over “substandard” Freedom of Information handling – was in the process of taking court action over our request for information, but dropped the case at the last minute.
TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher used her Twitter and Instagram accounts to “reassure parents on the changes and safety measures in place at schools” during the pandemic.
