Agencies were informed of the impending cuts by the SNP government earlier this week, with further details of ‘essential’ campaigns expected to follow.

This development follows the Scottish finance secretary Shona Robison’s letter to fellow cabinet ministers, made public on Tuesday 13th August, in which she said that “emergency spending controls will now be introduced with immediate effect” to help fund public sector pay deals and handle uncertainty over this year’s budget.

Paul Bainsfair, director general at the IPA, said: “From detecting cancer early, to mental health support, to road safety, to flu vaccinations, to nursing and teacher recruitment and organ donation – to name but a few, public service campaigns play a vital role in changing behaviours to improve the health of the nation and the economy, and in doing so reduce public costs over the long term.

“While we appreciate the challenging financial position of the current Scottish economy, we very much believe that halting spend to public service advertising is a short-term decision that could cause dramatic long and indeed short-term damage for the population at large, as well as to the economy.”

Bainsfair added that there could be a financial knock-on effect for the Scottish advertising industry.

“Regarding the impact of this decision on the Scottish ad industry, given that the Scottish government represents the single biggest advertiser in Scotland, any stops to public service advertising could result in a loss of jobs in the sector,” Bainsfair explained.

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “The Scottish government freeze on public sector marketing expenditure for the remainder of the year is a necessary decision to ensure we have a balanced budget.

“As both the first minister and the cabinet secretary for finance have made clear, tough decisions are having to be made across government and the wider public sector to ensure that stretched resources are used economically, efficiently and effectively.”