“By their deeds, shall ye know them!” Matthew 7:16

Read a bullet the ACID bullet point summary here and the full Hansard report here

Ahead of the debate, there was a rallying cry from Baroness Featherstone to ask their lordships to, “Give of their wisdom to the Government, trying to impress upon them the need to turbocharge their level of commitment to the creative sector in both policy and spending.”

“We need a Government, that:

• Understands and values the creative sector and puts their money and energy into it; that respects, capitalises and believes in the creative sector.
• Understands that in challenging times for the UK, the creative industries offer a platform for economic success.
• Will intensify and strengthen our creative core by promoting creative subjects in schools.

ACID CEO Dids Macdonald, OBE., commented, “The debate about the Creative Industries (CI) took place recently in the House of Lords and is well worth a read through to capture some of the comments recognising some of the seismic contributions it makes to the UK economy. Along with some harsh, but realistic words spoken about Government’s lack of understanding, engagement, and action of the CI, there is room for more acknowledgement. Though there was also praise, albeit late in the day, for the Culture Recovery Fund and extension of tax relief to a sector still reeling from the repercussions of Covid and Brexit.”

Following extensive debate and many insightful comments, the closing statement from Baroness Featherstone was apposite: “The Minister’s response was a fine gallop through all the wonderful things the Government are doing, but the point of this debate and the point I have been trying to get across to him is that we need a fundamental change of gear, a shift of policy and funding. Of course, when you have a whole department, you do a lot of very good things, but it is not good enough. From what we have heard across this Chamber, I think that we want more. I thank all noble Lords for their contributions today and let us carry on fighting for a sector that needs its champions.”

The DCMS defines creative industries as: “Those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.”

Facts:

• CI contributes at over £115 billion gross value added in 2019, five times the rate of the rest of the UK economy before the pandemic, was going under.
• DfE says that courses that are not among the Government’s priorities, covering subjects in music, dance, drama and performing arts; art and design; media studies; and archaeology—are to be subject to a reduction of 50 per cent.
• EBacc, where arts are excluded completely, and the lack of action on the vanished £90 million-a-year arts premium promised by the Treasury in March 2020.
• There have been 11 different Secretaries of State in DCMS in the last 11 years, serving about a year each.
• From the World Economic Forum 2020 report, 50% of all employees will need reskilling by 2025 and that creativity, originality and initiative are in the top 10 skills.
• The creative sector encompasses a wide variety of industry sub-sectors, ranging from film and television to IT software and computer services. These are powerful drivers in the modern UK economy, contributing, an estimated £155.9 billion and 2.1 million jobs to the economy in 2019. Put into context, this contribution to the economy is greater than the automotive, aerospace, life sciences and oil and gas industries combined.