New action and evidence on supporting the creative industries
The Culture Secretary, Nadine Dorries, has announced she will publish a Creative Industries Sector Vision in the summer, supported by nearly £50m to support creative businesses across the UK.
- The creative industries were identified as one of four key sectors in the Plan for Growth to encourage recovery following the pandemic and have been invited to develop a Sector Vision
- The Sector Vision, due to be published in summer 2022, will set out a long-term strategy focused on promoting growth within a sector and delivering on the government’s levelling up, Global Britain and net zero objectives
- This strategy will be developed as a partnership between government and industry. The Creative Industries Council (CC is a member) will be the primary partner to deliver the Sector Vision.
The Government’s Levelling Up White Paper includes plans for engagement with local culture to grow in every area of the UK by 2030.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee’s latest inquiry is on also on the levelling up agenda. Drawing on our resources on the power of craft experiences, Crafts Council’s evidence highlights the role of craft experiences in animating high streets, heritage and tourist venues and increasing visitor footfall.
Arts Professional has analysed initial data from place-based funding streams and the connection between culture and regeneration.
The Policy and Evidence Centre has published a set of blogs, policy analysis and research that looks at the barriers to securing R&D investment and tax reliefs for creative industries and recommends improving support through small grants for innovation and enhanced tax advice. With case studies of specific creative sub-sectors such as museums and galleries, the research identifies some of the policy and financial levers needed to support the creative industries.
Arts Council England and the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) have launched Creative High Streets to show how creativity can help regenerate high streets.
The Public Campaign for the Arts shows that local authority spending on cultural and related services has nearly halved over the past decade and in England is now worth £60 per person.
Unesco reports that ten million jobs in creative industries worldwide were lost in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, and the increasing digitisation of cultural output means it is harder than ever for artists to make a living. Reshaping Policies for Creativity shows that although the cultural and creative sector is one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world, it is also one of the most vulnerable and is often overlooked by public and private investment.
Culture in Crisis, the Cultural Value Centre’s look at the impacts of Covid-19 on the UK cultural sector, shows that the shift to digital transformed cultural experiences for those already engaged with cultural activities, but it failed to diversify cultural audiences. Many cultural organisations re-evaluated their purpose and their relevance to local communities in light of the pandemic and Black Lives Matter. This was complemented by increased local engagement.
The Design Council’s Design Economy research is setting out to provide the most comprehensive insight to date of the demographic breakdown of the design economy, education pathways into design, and emerging professions.
DCMS has published monthly GVA (gross value added) figures for the creative industries and cultural sector. These estimates are based on partial figures for craft as the international codes for industry contribution to the economy only include the manufacture of jewellery.
Arts Council of Wales is to begin work on a new strategy for Welsh and the arts, following a mapping exercise on the use of Welsh in the arts.