The UK government has published its plan for the country’s creative industries, pledging to increase annual investment from £17 billion to £31 billion by 2035.
The plan sets out a number of aims:
- Accelerating innovation-led growth through increased research and development investment and supporting businesses that create innovative technology. It also aims to secure growth finance for creative start-ups and scale-ups, build a resilient, skilled, and diverse workforce, and increase trade and exports. Plans include a £100 million UKRI investment for R&D creative clusters, increased support from the British Business Bank for debt and equity finance, and a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service.
- Targeting high-potential sub-sectors, such as film and TV, and includes a new £75 million Screen Growth Package
- Unlocking growth in city regions and clusters across the UK, including a new £150 million Creative Places Growth Fund.
- Working in partnership with industry, including relaunching the Creative Industries Council (CIC) and strengthening the Creative Industries Trade and Investment Board (CITIB).
Responding to the plan, Philippa Childs, head of Bectu, welcomed the government’s plan to put the creative industries “front and centre” of its growth strategy.
“The creative sector is powered by a diverse and highly skilled workforce, many of them freelancers, that have endured an incredibly tough few years, and helping to support this workforce must be a central pillar of any successful plan for the sector.
“These measures will be welcomed by the creative workforce as a show of commitment to the sector, however they will also be looking for sustained support for creative workers across government in the coming years as the sector recovers from a series of external shocks,” she added.
The plan also commits to funding the British Film Commission for a further three years. Adrian Wootton OBE, chief executive of the British Film Commission, described the news as “a show of confidence in the strength and growth potential of the UK’s inward investment film and TV production sector.
“The British Film Commission works tirelessly to promote our incredible UK film and TV production industry internationally, and to support production in all four nations of the UK, so we’re delighted that today’s announcement of longer-term funding for the British Film Commission allows us to continue that work,” Wootton added
“While the global industry is still in a state of change and yet to reach a ‘new normal’, this strong support from government, coupled with our compelling package of tax credits – including an increased VFX tax credit and new credit for limited-budget films – will ensure the UK remains well-placed to see a competitive share of the global production spend.”
The full Creative Sector Industries Plan is available to download here.
