Culture secretary Lucy Frazer set out her vision for the U.K.’s creative industries on Thursday morning, which included a plan to boost the creative sector’s gross added vale by £50 billion and create a million more jobs by 2030.
“Our creative industries are world class,” Frazer said. “We are in the golden age of the silver screen. We rival any country in the world at sound and visual effects, and are on track to double U.K. film stage space by 2025.”
Frazer, who was speaking at the Deloitte and Enders Media and Telecoms conference in London, added: “The world over, there is demand for high-end British productions not just because of our fantastic actors and our great locations, but because of our tech know-how and production skills. The imagination of our designers, our producers, our content creators, our writers and artists is spearheading growth right across our economy.”
“I have zero doubt that we in Government can do more tangible things to support our creatives. But we cannot simply copy and paste the formula for that past success. We face increasing global competition and we cannot afford to be complacent.
She also set out the need to build a “pipeline of creative talent.”
“Over the next few months we will be identifying how we can go further. First, growing these sectors by promoting skills from primary school children to those returning to the workforce. Whether that is in music at school or extracurricular activities, and working with the creative sector on maximising the opportunities of bootcamps and apprenticeships.
“Secondly we want to harness talent in clusters across the U.K. and support cannot be at the expense of London or detract from those places that are already thriving. It needs to build on what we have already seen across the country. Whether that’s video games in Dundee and Leamington Spa, or TV in Birmingham and Leeds.
“And thirdly, targeting specific support at different sub sectors, to unlock growth across the U.K.”
Frazer is the eleventh culture secretary in the space of ten years, having been appointed to the role by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in February. Her comments come as the television industry is facing an “unprecedented” lack of jobs, with the situation so precarious crew union Bectu has called it an “emergency.”
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