
Table of contents
Approximate read time: 35 minutes
On 6 February 2025, the House of Lords is due to debate the following motion:
Baroness Thornton (Labour) to move that this House takes note of the contribution of the creative industries to the government’s growth mission and to creating jobs and productivity growth.
1. What are the creative industries?
The ‘creative industries’ have been defined by successive governments 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”.[1] The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has classified nine sub-sectors within the creative industries:[2]
- advertising and marketing
- architecture
- crafts
- design: product, graphic and fashion design
- film, TV, video, radio and photography
- IT, software and computer services
- publishing
- museums, galleries and libraries
- music, performing and visual arts
2. Economic profile of the creative industries
2.1 Gross value added
The creative industries contributed £124bn in gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy in 2023.[3] This is equivalent to 5.2% of the GVA of the whole UK economy.
Table 1 shows the contribution of each of the sub-sectors within the creative industries to the UK’s economy in 2023. IT, software and computer services was the largest sub-sector, contributing £49.1bn in GVA, equivalent to just over 2% of the total UK GVA, and nearly 40% of the total creative industries’ GVA. The two next largest sub-sectors were advertising and marketing (£21.5bn) and film, TV, radio and photography (£21.2bn).
Table 1. GVA in the creative industries sub-sectors, 2023 (provisional figures)
Sub-sector | GVA (£bn) | % of creative industries’ GVA | % of UK GVA |
---|---|---|---|
IT, software and computer services | 49.1 | 39.6% | 2.07% |
Advertising and marketing | 21.5 | 17.3% | 0.91% |
Film, TV, radio and photography | 21.2 | 17.1% | 0.90% |
Publishing | 11.6 | 9.4% | 0.49% |
Music, performing and visual arts | 11.2 | 9.1% | 0.47% |
Architecture | 4.0 | 3.2% | 0.17% |
Design and designer fashion | 3.9 | 3.1% | 0.16% |
Museums, galleries and libraries | 1.1 | 0.9% | 0.05% |
Crafts | 0.4 | 0.3% | 0.01% |
Creative industries total | 124.0 | 100% | 5.2% |
(Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS economic estimates GVA 2023 (provisional)—data tables only’, 19 December 2024. See ‘DCMS sectors economic estimates gross value added 2023 (provisional)’ 19 December 2024, table 2a, MS Excel spreadsheet)
The creative industries outperformed the UK economy over the period between 2010 and 2023 in terms of growth in GVA. When adjusted for inflation, the creative industries’ GVA was 35% larger in 2023 than it was in 2010.[4] Over the same period, the GVA of the whole UK economy grew by 22%. However, looking at performance in 2023, the creative industries performed less well than the UK economy as a whole. The creative industries’ GVA fell by 3.3% in real terms in 2023 compared to 2022, whereas the GVA of the whole UK economy grew by 0.3% compared to 2022.
Early monthly GVA figures for 2024 suggest the creative industries’ GVA grew by 1.4% in January to March 2024 compared to the previous quarter, and by 2.7% in the three months to June 2024, compared to the previous quarter.[5] This was higher than for UK GVA as a whole, which was 0.7% higher in January to March 2024 compared to the previous quarter, and 0.5% higher in three months to June 2024, compared to the previous quarter. Both the creative industries’ GVA and the UK’s GVA grew by 0.1% in the three months to September 2024 compared to the previous three-month period.
2.2 Employment and earnings
There were 2.4mn jobs in the creative industries in the UK in 2023–24.[6] This amounted to 7% of all filled jobs in the UK.
IT, software and computer services was the creative industries sub-sector with the most jobs—there were over 1mn jobs in this sub-sector in 2023–24, around 43% of all jobs in the creative industries. The next largest sub-sector was music, performing and the visual arts, which accounted for 13% of jobs in the creative industries, or 311,000 jobs. The smallest sub-sector was crafts, which had only 10,000 jobs, 0.4% of all creative industries jobs. Table 2 shows how many filled jobs there were in each of the nine sub-sectors, and what proportion this was of all jobs in the creative industries.
Table 2. Jobs in the creative industries sub-sectors, 2023–24
Sub-sector | Number of filled jobs (thousands) | % of jobs in the creative industries |
---|---|---|
IT, software and computer services | 1,022 | 42.6% |
Music, performing and visual arts | 311 | 13.0% |
Advertising and marketing | 260 | 10.8% |
Film, TV, radio and photography | 256 | 10.7% |
Publishing | 187 | 7.8% |
Design and designer fashion | 140 | 5.8% |
Architecture | 122 | 5.1% |
Museums, galleries and libraries | 91 | 3.8% |
Crafts | 10 | 0.4% |
(Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Economic estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors, July 2023 to June 2024’, 12 December 2024. See ‘Economic estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors, July 2023 to June 2024 spreadsheet’, 12 December 2024, table 3, ODS file format. Figures are for filled jobs.)
Self-employment is more prevalent in the creative industries than in the UK labour market as a whole. 28% of jobs in the creative industries were self-employed roles, compared to 14% of all jobs in the UK.[7]
However, the rate of self-employment varied across the creative industries sub-sectors. The majority of jobs in music, performing and visual arts (66%) and design and designer fashion (61%) were self-employed, but self-employment is rare in museums, galleries and libraries (4%).[8] Table 3 shows the rate of self-employment in each of the nine sub-sectors.
Table 3. Rate of self-employment in jobs in the creative industries sub-sectors, 2023–24
Sub-sector | % of jobs that are self-employed |
---|---|
Music, performing and visual arts | 66% |
Design and designer fashion | 61% |
Film, TV, radio and photography | 45% |
Publishing | 32% |
Architecture | 28% |
Advertising and marketing | 23% |
Crafts | 16% |
IT, software and computer services | 11% |
Museums, galleries and libraries | 4% |
(Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Economic estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors, July 2023 to June 2024’, 12 December 2024. See ‘Economic estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors, July 2023 to June 2024 spreadsheet’, 12 December 2024, table 3, ODS file format.)
Median annual gross pay in the creative industries in 2023 was £39,366.[9] This was a third higher than the median annual gross pay for the UK as a whole of £29,669.
Median annual gross pay was higher than the UK average in all the creative industries sub-sectors except for museums, galleries and libraries, where earnings were 6% lower than the UK average. The highest-earning sub-sector was IT, software and computer services where median pay was £44,517, 50% higher than the UK average. Table 4 shows median annual gross pay in each of the sub-sectors, and how it compared to the UK average.
Table 4. Median annual gross pay in creative industries sub-sectors, 2023
Sub-sector | Median annual gross pay (£) | Compared to UK median annual gross pay |
---|---|---|
IT, software and computer services | 44,517 | +50% |
Architecture | 38,495 | +30% |
Crafts | 37,993 | +28% |
Film, TV, video, radio and photography | 37,601 | +27% |
Advertising | 36,560 | +23% |
Design and designer fashion | 36,220 | +22% |
Publishing | 34,965 | +18% |
Music, performing and visual arts | 30,739 | +4% |
Museums, galleries and libraries | 27,800 | -6% |
(Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Economic estimates: Earnings 2023 and employment October 2022 to September 2023 for the DCMS sectors and digital sector’, updated 22 November 2024. See ‘Economic estimates: Earnings in the DCMS sectors, annual gross pay, 2022 to 2023’, 22 November 2024, table 2, ODS file format.)
2.3 Size and turnover of businesses
In March 2024, there were 268,080 businesses in the creative industries, making up 9.8% of UK-registered businesses.[10] The number of businesses in the creative industries fell by just under 10% from March 2019 to March 2024, but it grew by 1% in the year to March 2024.
The vast majority (93.4%) of businesses in the creative industries in March 2024 were microbusinesses, meaning they had fewer than 10 employees. This is a higher proportion than for UK-registered businesses as a whole, 89.1% of which are microbusinesses.
Similarly, a higher proportion of businesses in the creative industries fall into a lower turnover band than UK businesses in general.[11] 78.2% of creative industries businesses have a turnover of less than £250,000, compared to 66.1% of all UK businesses.[12] 7.5% of creative industries businesses had a turnover of more than £1mn, compared to 11.2% of UK businesses as a whole.[13] The sub-sectors with the highest proportion of businesses with a £1mn+ turnover were museums, galleries and libraries (14.1% of businesses in that sub-sector) and advertising and marketing (10.9% of businesses in that sub-sector).[14]
2.4 Productivity
Provisional DCMS estimates for 2022 suggest that productivity in the creative industries is lower than the UK average in terms of both output per hour and output per job.[15] Creative industries output per hour was £31 in 2022, compared to the UK average of £40. This means that more hours of work were needed in the creative industries than across the UK economy as a whole to generate the same amount of GVA. Output per job in the creative industries was £62,000, compared to the UK average of £65,000. This means that each filled job generated less GVA in the creative industries than the UK average.
However, productivity varied across the creative industries sub-sectors. Output per hour exceeded the UK average in film, TV, radio and photography (£47 per hour) and advertising and marketing (£46 per hour).[16] By this measure, output per hour was notably low in museums, galleries and libraries at £8 per hour. However, DCMS commented that this was not unexpected for this subsector “as many of the kinds of output we expect to be produced from the labour input are not included in GVA”.[17] Table 5 below shows the output per hour for each of the creative industries sub-sectors. Figures are not available for the output per job broken down by sub-sector.
Table 5. Output per hour in creative industries sub-sectors, 2022
Sub-sector | Output per hour (£) |
---|---|
Film, TV, radio and photography | 47 |
Advertising and marketing | 46 |
Publishing | 38 |
Crafts | 36 |
Music, performing and visual arts | 34 |
IT, software and computer services | 28 |
Architecture | 19 |
Design and designer fashion | 15 |
Museums, galleries and libraries | 8 |
(Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS and digital sector productivity 2022 (provisional)’, 28 March 2024. See ‘DCMS sectors economic estimates productivity 2022 (provisional): Output per hour’, 28 March 2024, table 2, ODS file format.)
2.5 Trade
The creative industries were a net exporter of both goods and services in 2021, the latest year for which the DCMS has published figures.[18] There was a trade balance of £2.1bn in creative industries goods and £18.7bn in creative industries services.
Analysis by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) concluded that “the UK’s creative industries are strongly internationally oriented, but increasing global competition means that their strength cannot be taken for granted”.[19] Over the period 2010–21, it found there was a continued rise in creative services exports. Creative services exports grew as a share of the UK’s total services exports. However, creative goods exports were “stagnant” and fell more than total UK goods exports in 2016 and 2020, with no sign of recovery in 2021.[20] The largest exporter of creative services was the IT, software and computer services sub-sector, followed by film, TV, radio and photography, and advertising and marketing, with these services exports becoming more concentrated over time. The research found that Europe and North America were generally the main market destinations for the UK’s creative goods and services exports, but some sub-sectors exported considerably outside these blocs, particularly to Asia.
According to the UN’s trade and development organisation UNCTAD, the UK was the third largest exporter of creative services globally in 2022, responsible for 6.3% of worldwide exports of creative services.[21] It came behind the US (17.7%) and Ireland (16.8%).
2.6 Foreign direct investment
Research by Creative PEC found that on average, 10% of all inward UK foreign direct investment (FDI) projects over the period 2012 to 2023 were accounted for by creative industries.[22] Creative PEC said this highlighted the importance of these industries for UK FDI, “demonstrating how the creative industries are a success story for the UK and cementing the UK’s position as a FDI creative hub”. The UK ranked second globally after the US at attracting inward creative industry FDI, receiving 9.3% of global inward creative industry FDI, compared to 12.9% received by the US.
However, the research also found that within the UK, creative industries’ share of inward FDI had fallen from a peak of 12% in 2021, and absolute numbers of inward FDI projects had also fallen since 2019. It argued that “against the backdrop of falling FDI flows for the overall UK economy, this decline suggests that initiatives for both attracting and generating creative FDI should be a priority for policymakers”.
The research found that the IT, software and computer services sub-sector accounted for over 70% of inward creative FDI projects over the period 2012–23.[23] However, this concentration had lowered over the last five years of that period from a peak of 80% of inward creative FDI, suggesting less reliance on FDI in this sub-sector. Creative PEC also said that inward creative FDI was relatively concentrated in mergers and acquisitions projects compared with new projects, in contrast with the evidence on non-creative FDI. It said this trend had become “even more prominent over the past three years”, although this was “against a backdrop of declining new inward FDI projects across the UK economy”.
2.7 Regional picture
DCMS’s most recent estimates of the creative industries’ contribution to regional GVA are for 2022. The majority of GVA in the creative industries in 2022 was generated in London (50.8%), followed by the South East (16.2%).[24] In comparison, 23.7% of the UK’s total GVA was generated in London and 15.3% in the South East. Figure 1 below shows how much of the total GVA by the creative industries was generated in each UK region, and how this compared to the proportion of the UK’s total GVA that was generated in each region.
Figure 1. Regional distribution of GVA in the creative industries and the whole UK economy in 2022

The creative industries contributed 5.7% of the UK’s total GVA in 2022. In comparison, the creative industries made a larger contribution to the regional economies of London and the South East. 12.2 % of the GVA to London’s regional economy came from the creative industries. This was 6.0% in the South East. In all other regions of the UK, the creative industries contributed less than 5.7% of the region’s GVA.
Just under half (46%) of all jobs in the creative industries were in London and the South East combined, breaking down to 29% in London and 17% in the South East in 2023–24.[25] The North West and the East of England had the next highest number, both hosting 8% of all the UK’s creative industries jobs. The North East and Northern Ireland were home to the lowest number of the UK’s creative industries jobs, at 2% each.
13% of all jobs in London were in the creative industries. This figure was 9% in the South East. In all other regions of the UK, 5% or 6% of jobs were in the creative industries, with the exception of the East Midlands where 4% of all jobs were in the creative industries.
Table 6 below shows what proportion of all creative industries jobs were located in each region of the UK, and what proportion of all jobs in each region were in the creative industries.
Table 6. Creative industries jobs by UK region, 2023–24
UK region | % of all UK creative industries jobs that are located in the region | % of all jobs in the region that are in the creative industries |
---|---|---|
London | 29% | 13% |
South East | 17% | 9% |
North West | 8% | 6% |
East | 8% | 6% |
South West | 7% | 6% |
Scotland | 7% | 6% |
West Midlands | 6% | 5% |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 5% | 5% |
East Midlands | 4% | 4% |
Wales | 3% | 5% |
North East | 2% | 5% |
Northern Ireland | 2% | 5% |
(Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Economic estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors, July 2023 to June 2024’, 12 December 2024. See ‘Economic estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors, July 2023 to June 2024 spreadsheet’, 12 December 2024, table 3, ODS file format.)
Median annual gross pay was higher in creative industries jobs in every region than the median annual gross pay for that region, and for the UK as a whole in 2023.[26] Creative industries jobs in London had the highest average earnings (£45,000). This was 52% higher than the average for the UK, but only 16% higher than the average for earnings in London across all sectors. Average earnings were lowest in the East Midlands at £29,886. This was only 1% higher than average earnings for the whole UK, but 10% more than average earnings in the East Midlands. The regions where earnings in the creative industries showed the biggest difference compared to the average for the region were the West Midlands and Northern Ireland (both 44% higher than the average for the region).
Table 7 below shows the median annual gross pay in each region, and how it compared to pay in that region and to pay in the UK as a whole.
Table 7. Median annual gross pay in the creative industries by region, 2023
UK region | Median annual gross pay (£) | Compared to UK median annual gross pay | Compared to region’s median annual gross pay |
---|---|---|---|
London | 45,000 | +52% | +16% |
South East | 42,500 | +43% | +37% |
West Midlands | 40,650 | +37% | +44% |
Northern Ireland | 39,136 | +32% | +44% |
North West | 36,225 | +22% | +27% |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 35,203 | +19% | +28% |
East | 35,000 | +18% | +21% |
North East | 33,774 | +14% | +27% |
South West | 32,766 | +10% | +17% |
Scotland | 32,304 | +9% | +9% |
Wales | 32,000 | +8% | +16% |
East Midlands | 29,886 | +1% | +10% |
(Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Economic estimates: Earnings 2023 and employment October 2022 to September 2023 for the DCMS sectors and digital sector’, updated 22 November 2024. See ‘Economic estimates: Earnings in the DCMS sectors, annual gross pay, 2022 to 2023’, 22 November 2024, table 2, ODS file format.)
3. Government policy
3.1 Industrial strategy: Creative industries as a “growth-driving” sector
The Labour government has described economic growth as its “number one mission”.[27] In the budget in October 2024, the government said its growth policy priorities would be structured around seven ‘pillars’, one of which is industrial strategy and trade.[28] The creative industries are set to be a key part of the government’s industrial strategy.
In October 2024, the government published a green paper on its industrial strategy, ‘Invest 2035: The UK’s modern industrial strategy’. The government said its industrial strategy would be a central part of the growth mission.[29] The government wants an industrial strategy to shape the economy by “taking advantage of the UK’s unique strengths and untapped potential, enabling already world-leading industries to adapt and grow, and seizing opportunities to lead in new and emerging industries”.
The green paper identified the creative industries as one of eight “growth-driving” sectors that would be prioritised.[30] In the next stage of developing its industrial strategy, the government intends to prioritise subsectors within each broad sector that meet its objectives and where there is evidence that policy can address barriers to growth. The government plans to design an “ambitious and targeted” sector plan for each sector in partnership with business, devolved governments, regions, experts and other stakeholders. The intention is also to “concentrate efforts on places with the greatest potential for our growth sectors: city regions, high-potential clusters, and strategic industrial sites”.[31]
The green paper explained the creative industries had been selected as one of the eight priority sectors because it is an area where the UK is already “world-leading” and because the sector is “expected to grow worldwide, creating further growth opportunities”, for instance in digital trade.[32] The green paper highlighted screen production and songs played internationally on streaming services as examples within the creative industries that showcase the “best of [the UK’s] creativity and culture to the world”. As indicative examples of the sort of policy interventions the government could support through its industrial strategy, the green paper said:
To enable growth in the sector, the government will leverage UK creative industries’ global comparative advantages by unlocking private investment, boosting exports, and developing its highly skilled workforce. The government needs to ensure that the UK sector remains globally competitive as a home for world class talent while maximising access to important markets to tour and collaborate. The sector plays an important role in driving growth across regions and nations, through creative clusters and corridors across the country that spread opportunity and prosperity in communities, as well as driving growth by enhancing access to skills, spillovers and knowledge sharing.[33]
The industrial strategy and the sector plans, including the sector plan for the creative industries, are due to be published alongside the spending review in spring 2025.[34] The government has commissioned various bodies to work on delivering the industrial strategy and the sector plan:
- Industrial Strategy Advisory Council: The council will make and publish recommendations on the development and implementation of the industrial strategy.[35] Its initial focus will be to support development of the industrial strategy, including developing proposals to break down barriers to growth. The government appointed members to the council in December 2024. The government plans to put the council on a statutory basis.[36]
- Creative Industries Taskforce: Sir Peter Bazalgette, the industry chair of the Creative Industries Council, and Baroness Vadera, who is due to replace him in that role later this year, have been appointed to lead a taskforce to work on the sector plan.[37] The taskforce will focus on areas such as crowding in investment, access to opportunity, people and skills, and supporting innovation.[38]
- Government chief scientific adviser and the national technology adviser: These senior advisers have been tasked to lead a review on “barriers to the adoption of transformative technologies that could enhance innovation and productivity, with a focus on the growth-driving sectors identified by the industrial strategy green paper”.[39] The review’s recommendations are intended to inform the development of the industrial strategy and sector plans.
Regulation of the interaction between artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property was identified as a barrier to the growth of the creative industries in a recent government-commissioned review published in January 2025. The ‘AI opportunities action plan’, produced by tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford, said “the current uncertainty around intellectual property (IP) is hindering innovation and undermining our broader ambitions for AI, as well as the growth of our creative industries”.[40] This relates to the application of copyright law to the training of AI models. The government has acknowledged that copyright-holders are finding it difficult to control the use of their works in training AI models and to be remunerated for its use.[41] The government has also said AI developers are also finding it difficult to navigate copyright law. The government is currently consulting on an exemption to copyright law for text and data-mining activities. Copyright-holders would need to reserve their rights to prevent their material from being used to train AI models. This opt-out approach has been criticised by organisations representing the creative industries. This issue is examined further in the House of Lords Library briefing ‘Copyright and artificial intelligence: Impact on creative industries’ (27 January 2025).
On 28 January 2025, the House of Lords agreed to a package of amendments to the Data (Use and Access) Bill moved by Baroness Kidron (Crossbench) relating to this issue.[42] Baroness Kidron said the amendments “would clarify the requirement for web-crawlers and other ‘data-gatherers’ to observe UK copyright law” in order to “counter the widespread theft of IP by AI companies who use it as raw material for their products”.[43]The government was defeated in a division on the first amendment in the group. Lord Vallance of Balham, minister of state at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said the government agreed with “the spirit of the amendments on transparency and web crawlers and the aims they are trying to achieve”.[44] However, he said it was essential to consider all the responses to the consultation before acting on the issue. The bill has not yet been considered by the House of Commons.
Labour previously published a sector plan for the creative industries, ‘Creating growth: Labour’s plan for the arts, culture and creative industries’, in March 2024, while it was in opposition.
3.2 Funding announcements
The government said the autumn 2024 budget was prioritising long-term funding for the growth-driving industries identified in the industrial strategy green paper, ahead of the publication of the full industrial strategy in 2025.[45] For the creative industries, this included:
- Tax reliefs for “world-leading” creative industries, worth £15bn over the next five years.[46] The government had announced earlier in October 2024 that independent film productions costing up to £15mn would benefit from an increased tax relief of 53% through the independent film tax credit (IFTC).[47] Films with a budget up to £23.5mn would also be eligible for the IFTC with tapered relief. The Conservative government had been planning to introduce an IFTC from 1 April 2025, but under its plans only films with a production budget below £15mn would have been eligible.[48] At the budget, the Labour government also confirmed a VFX (visual effects) relief would go ahead from April 2025, with costs incurred by visual effects firms from 1 January 2025 eligible for the relief.[49] The government said the VFX relief would “incentivise more film projects to draw on the UK’s post-production expertise”. The Conservative government had announced at its budget in March 2024 that it planned to implement this relief with effect from 1 April 2025.[50] The Labour government also said at the autumn 2024 budget that it would continue to provide “generous tax reliefs” to museums, galleries, theatres and orchestras.[51] From 1 April 2025, they will benefit from 40% tax relief for non-touring productions and 45% for orchestral and touring productions. The Conservative government had announced at the March 2024 budget that it would make these rates permanent from 1 April 2025.[52] Higher rates of 45% and 50% have applied since October 2021 to help the sector recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, but the rates had been due to taper to 30% and 35% in April 2025.
- £3mn to expand the ‘creative careers programme’.[53] The government said this would “continue to broaden and diversify the talent pipeline in the creative industries” and give schoolchildren the opportunity to learn more about career routes and directly engage with the workplace. The creative careers programme, also known as ‘Discover creative careers’ was launched in 2018.[54] The current programme running from 2023 to 2025 aims to reach young people from 77 target areas across England and provide them with activities and resources to encourage them to pursue a career in the creative industries.
- £25mn funding for the North East Mayoral Combined Authority (NEMCA) which it plans to use to remediate the Crown Works Studio site.[55] The government said this would support the North East’s creative industries and was expected to lead to around 8,000 new jobs in the region.[56] Lisa Nandy, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said this investment would make Sunderland “one of the centres of our TV and film industry for years to come”.[57]
DCMS’s overall funding settlement in the budget was £2.3bn in 2025–26, which the government said represented an average annual real-terms growth rate of 2.6% compared to 2023–24.[58] However, within this, DCMS’s resource departmental expenditure limit (RDEL) fell by 2.5% in real terms between 2023–24 and 2025–26. The government said this was due to expenditure from self-generated income by arm’s length bodies in 2023–24 and “one-off pressures” which are not included in the 2025–26 settlement. The government said the DCMS settlement would be used to raise the grant-in-aid for the national museums and galleries, to provide a package of cultural infrastructure funding to support cultural organisations across the country and to continue funding programmes within the creative industries.[59]
The government also said that the ‘Creative industries clusters’ programme would continue to fund creative clusters in new sub-sectors and regions over the next six years.[60] This would be supported by at least £50mn of funding delivered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council on behalf of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The ‘Creative industries clusters’ programme was launched in November 2018 with £120mn funding over five years.[61] DCMS announced in November 2024 that creative clusters in Merseyside and the West Midlands would each receive £6.75mn through the programme.[62] This funding was intended to boost live music in Liverpool and creative tech, such as video games and immersive reality, in the West Midlands.
The government held a creative industries growth summit in January 2025, which it said was “the first step towards delivering the creative industries growth sector plan”.[63] At the summit, the government announced £60mn of funding, consisting of:
- £40mn over the next financial year, including £16.3mn for the create growth programme, £2.5mn for the supporting grassroots music fund, £5.5mn for the UK games fund, £1.6mn for the music export growth scheme and £7mn for the UK global screen fund
- £16.2mn from the cultural development fund, made up of £5mn for a creative writing centre in Newcastle; £5mn for a glassworks in Sunderland; £3.5mn for a music education centre in Sheffield; and £2.7mn for a cultural venue in North Somerset
- £3.6mn from the ‘Create growth’ programme to be shared by 127 creative businesses in 12 regions across England
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, announced that the priority regions for creative industries are:[64]
- North East
- Greater Manchester
- Liverpool City Region
- West Yorkshire
- West Midlands
- Greater London
- West of England
- South Wales
- Glasgow
- Edinburgh-Dundee corridor
- Belfast
The government promised that further funding would be agreed as part of the spending review for six mayoral combined authorities (North East, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, West Yorkshire, West Midlands and West of England).[65]
At the summit, the government also announced changes to how the British Business Bank and UKRI would prioritise the creative industries. It said this was “a significant signal of intent ahead of the spending review”.[66] Lisa Nandy said the British Business Bank had committed to increasing the scale of support to the creative industries.[67] Ms Nandy also said the government would strengthen funding from UKRI into creative research and development. Alongside programmes like the creative clusters programme, she said UKRI would develop a specific new strategy to support the creative industries. She said both the British Business Bank and UKRI would report to the government on their investments in the creative industries.
Separately, the government has also launched a review of Arts Council England, one aim of which will be to consider its role in the “wider cultural funding ecosystem”.[68]
3.3 Skills
The government has also emphasised the role of skills in growing the creative industries. The Labour Party said in its March 2024 creative industries sector plan that “making sure the UK can provide a workforce with the right skills and capabilities is key to capturing the growth potential of the creative industries”.[69] It said it would make sure skills policy was aligned with plans for regional economic growth.
Research from Creative PEC in July 2024 warned of a “looming creative economy skills shortage across the UK”, with a “severe decline” in participation in further education in creative subjects.[70]
Lisa Nandy has argued that the launch of Skills England and reforms to the apprenticeship levy would provide the skills needed for “a decade of national renewal” and “better career opportunities for young people”.[71] She believed these reforms, including focusing apprenticeships more on young people, would “set them up to succeed and to help fill the 25,000 vacancies in the creative sector”.
At the creative industries growth summit, Ms Nandy announced the government would introduce shorter apprenticeships from August 2025.[72] She said the current, “inflexible” model required an apprenticeship to be at least 12 months long, but for instance a film might take only six months to film. She argued shorter apprenticeships would recognise “the particular needs” of the film sector. Ms Nandy said Skills England, the Department for Education and DCMS were now committed to working with creative employers to identify where else the apprenticeship system could be more flexible to support skills gaps in the creative industries.
Ms Nandy also said that Labour’s review of the curriculum in schools was “putting creativity, art, music, culture and sport back at the heart of the curriculum, supporting culture and creativity through the education system”.[73] The review’s final report and recommendations are due in autumn 2025.[74]
3.4 Reaction
Stuart Andrew, shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport, has said the Conservatives agree the “potential to grow is huge” within the creative industries.[75] Mr Andrew said his party would seek to be a constructive opposition in relation to the government’s ambitions for the sector and welcomed the £60mn funding package announced at the creative industries growth summit.[76] However, he argued that other choices the government had made in the budget “are potentially crushing our world-leading creative industries from being an even greater success”.[77]
First, Mr Andrew argued that changes to national insurance in the budget amounted to a “jobs tax that will cost employers in DCMS sectors £2.8bn”.[78] Second, he said the government had “slashed” retail, hospitality and leisure relief.[79] The Conservative government introduced this relief in 2021, enabling eligible businesses to claim relief on their business rates. Cinemas and music venues are eligible to claim.[80] Relief was originally set at 100% and a 75% relief has applied since April 2023.[81] The Labour government announced in the budget that from April 2025, the relief would be 40%.[82] Mr Andrew also said that “radical” measures in the government’s Employment Rights Bill would “burden businesses […] with £4.5bn of additional costs”.[83] Mr Andrews argued that Labour’s policies were “in danger of damaging [the creative industries] beyond belief”.[84]
While in government, the Conservatives published their ‘sector vision’ for the creative industries in June 2023, setting out plans to grow the creative industries’ GVA by £50bn by 2030.[85] Further information about this and the accompanying funding announcements can be found in the House of Lords Library briefing ‘Contributions of the arts to society and the economy’ (26 January 2024).
Industries within the creative sector have welcomed the government’s prioritisation of the creative industries within the industrial strategy but have called for it not to lose focus on some sub-sectors. Creative UK, an independent network for the creative industries, suggested the industrial strategy should incorporate “metrics that effectively drive system change” and “reflect creative subsectoral contributions beyond productivity alone, to demonstrate the transformative impact of the creative sector overall”.[86] It argued that certain subsectors within the creative industries, such as traditional arts and heritage sectors, “may find it a challenge to demonstrate immediately […] high, short-term growth but have long-term potential”. Such subsectors should be recognised as “a fundamental aspect of the creative system” and “an incubator for the cultural and creative industries at large”. This point was echoed by Historic England, which argued that the heritage sector “is an important enabler of growth in the creative industries”.[87] Likewise, the Crafts Council argued that “craft skills, often through microclusters, power other creative industries”, for instance set designers and fabricators, costume and prop makers and model makers are needed for other creative industries.[88]
Sectors within the creative industries have called on the government to use the industrial strategy to address barriers to growth such as skills shortages and access to finance and financial support. The Crafts Council said the strategy “needs a strong focus on supply side measures, such as skills development at all levels” and “more flexible finance […] that recognises the circumstances (and volume) of microbusinesses in the UK”.[89] UK Music said “ensuring strong pathways into the industry [is] even more critical given skills shortages within the sector”. It highlighted the need for government support for vocational qualifications and more flexible apprenticeships. It also called for a tax credit to encourage new music production, and business rates relief that applied to a wider range of premises.[90] The Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre said currently the theatre sector faced critical challenges such as insufficient relief to stimulate research and development activities, limited access to finance, skills gaps and workforce shortages and a lack of sustainable funding to invest in aging infrastructure.[91] Ukie, a trade association for the UK’s games and interactive entertainment industry, said that funding from schemes like the ‘UK games fund’ were “insufficient for today’s development costs”, and UK tax reliefs were falling behind those offered by other countries, drawing games studios away from the UK.[92] Like other sectors, it believed skills gaps were holding the games industry back, and it also suggested that visa costs were “barriers to talent”.
Creative PEC has argued that “reimagining growth finance could boost the creative economy and help tackle regional inequality in support of the UK government’s growth mission”.[93]
4. Read more
- House of Lords Library, ‘Copyright and artificial intelligence: Impact on creative industries’, 27 January 2025
- House of Commons Library, ‘Creative industries’, 24 January 2025
- House of Lords Library, ‘Budget 2024: Impact on the cultural sector’, 11 November 2024
- House of Commons Library, ‘The creative industries tax reliefs: Policy and development’, 5 September 2024
- House of Lords Library, ‘Contribution of the arts to society and the economy’, 26 January 2024
- House of Commons Library, ‘Touring artists and the UK-EU economic partnership’, 14 November 2023
- House of Lords Library, ‘Our creative future: Communications and Digital Committee report’, 30 June 2023
- House of Lords Library, ‘Arts and creative industries: The case for a strategy’, 1 December 2022
Cover image by by Caleb Oquendo on Pexels.
References
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS economic estimates: Annual GVA—technical and quality assurance report’, 19 December 2024. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Creative industries economic estimates methodology’, 2016, p 13. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS economic estimates GVA 2023 (provisional)—data tables only’, 19 December 2024. See ‘DCMS sectors economic estimates gross value added 2023 (provisional)’ 19 December 2024, table 2a, MS Excel spreadsheet. Gross value added is the value generated by any unit engaged in production and the contributions of individual sectors or industries to gross domestic product. Return to text
- As above, table 2b. Figures for 2023 are provisional. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS economic estimates: Monthly GVA (to September 2024)’, 27 November 2024. See ‘DCMS sector economic estimates: Monthly GVA to September 2024 spreadsheet’, 27 November 2024, table 2, ODS file format. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Economic estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors, July 2023 to June 2024’, 12 December 2024. See ‘Economic estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors, July 2023 to June 2024 spreadsheet’, 12 December 2024, table 3, ODS file format. Figures are for filled jobs. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Economic estimates: Earnings 2023 and employment October 2022 to September 2023 for the DCMS sectors and digital sector’, updated 22 November 2024. See ‘Economic estimates: Earnings in the DCMS sectors, annual gross pay, 2022 to 2023’, 22 November 2024, table 2, ODS file format. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS economic estimates: Business demographics, 2024—main report’, 5 December 2024. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS economic estimates: Business demographics, 2024—main report’, 5 December 2024. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS economic estimates: Business demographics, 2024’, 5 December 2024. See ‘DCMS economic estimates: Business demographics, 2024 spreadsheet’, 5 December 2024, table 5, ODS file format. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS sectors economic estimates: Productivity 2022 (provisional)’, 28 March 2024. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS and digital sector productivity 2022 (provisional)’, 28 March 2024. See ‘DCMS sectors economic estimates productivity 2022 (provisional): Output per hour’, 28 March 2024, table 2, ODS file format. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS sectors economic estimates: Productivity 2022 (provisional)’, 28 March 2024. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, ‘DCMS sectors economics estimates: Trade, 2021—main report’, 6 August 2024. Return to text
- Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, ‘UK trade in a global creative economy’, March 2024, p 5. The Creative PEC is led by Newcastle University with the Royal Society of Arts and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Cou/ncil. Return to text
- As above, p 6. Return to text
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, ‘Creative economy outlook 2024’, 11 July 2024, p 28. Return to text
- Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, ‘Foreign direct investment in the UK’s creative industries’, November 2024, p 5. Return to text
- As above, p 6. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘DCMS sectors economic estimates: Regional gross value added 2022’, 27 June 2024. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Economic estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors, July 2023 to June 2024’, 12 December 2024. See ‘Economic estimates: Employment in DCMS sectors, July 2023 to June 2024 spreadsheet’, 12 December 2024, table 3, ODS file format. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Economic estimates: Earnings 2023 and employment October 2022 to September 2023 for the DCMS sectors and digital sector’, updated 22 November 2024. See ‘Economic estimates: Earnings in the DCMS sectors, annual gross pay, 2022 to 2023’, 22 November 2024, table 2, ODS file format. Return to text
- UK Government, ‘Invest 2035: The UK’s modern industrial strategy’, 14 October 2024, p 2. Return to text
- HM Treasury, ‘Autumn budget 2024: Fixing the foundations to deliver change’, 30 October 2024, HC 295 of session 2024–25, p 73. Return to text
- UK Government, ‘Invest 2035: The UK’s modern industrial strategy’, 14 October 2024, p 14. Return to text
- As above, p 16. The other sectors are advanced manufacturing; clean energy industries; defence; digital and technologies; financial services; life sciences; and professional and business services. Return to text
- As above, p 5. Return to text
- As above, pp 22–3. Return to text
- As above, p 23. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- House of Commons, ‘Written statement: Progress towards a modern industrial strategy (HCWS319)’, 17 December 2024. Return to text
- UK Government, ‘Invest 2035: The UK’s modern industrial strategy’, 14 October 2024, p 12. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘RSC chair to lead Creative Industries Council, as work kicks off on growth plan for the sector’, 25 November 2024. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Membership of new Creative Industries Taskforce announced’, 18 December 2024. Return to text
- HM Treasury, ‘Autumn budget 2024: Fixing the foundations to deliver change’, 30 October 2024, HC 295 of session 2024–25, p 74. Return to text
- Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, ‘AI opportunities action plan’, 13 January 2025, CP 1241, p 14. Return to text
- Intellectual Property Office, ‘Copyright and AI: Consultation’, December 2024, CP 1205, p 2. Return to text
- HL Hansard, 28 January 2025, cols 150–77 and cols 234–7. The relevant amendments were 44A and 61 to 65. Return to text
- House of Lords, ‘Data (Use and Access) Bill [HL]: Second marshalled list of amendments to be moved on report’, 24 January 2025, p 20 (member’s explanatory statement to amendment 61). Return to text
- HL Hansard, 28 January 2025, col 171. Return to text
- HM Treasury, ‘Autumn budget 2024: Fixing the foundations to deliver change’, 30 October 2024, HC 295 of session 2024–25, p 73. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘UK’s world-class film sector handed major jobs and growth boost by tax reliefs’, 9 October 2024. Return to text
- HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs, ‘HMT-HMRC policy note: UK independent film tax credit’, updated 12 April 2024. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Funding for UK’s growth-driving creative industries confirmed in the budget’, 1 November 2024; and HM Revenue and Customs, ‘Additional tax relief for visual effects (VFX)’, 30 October 2024. Return to text
- HM Treasury, ‘Spring budget 2024’, 6 March 2024, HC 560 of session 2023–24, p 81. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Funding for UK’s growth-driving creative industries confirmed in the budget’, 1 November 2024. Return to text
- HM Revenue and Customs, ‘Permanent 40% and 45% rates for theatre, orchestra, museum and galleries tax reliefs’, 6 March 2024. Return to text
- HM Treasury, ‘Autumn budget 2024: Fixing the foundations to deliver change’, 30 October 2024, HC 295 of session 2024–25, p 73. Return to text
- Discover Creative Careers, ‘About Discover! Creative careers’, accessed 24 January 2025. Return to text
- HM Treasury, ‘Autumn budget 2024: Fixing the foundations to deliver change’, 30 October 2024, HC 295 of session 2024–25, p 74. Return to text
- As above, p 73. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Funding for UK’s growth-driving creative industries confirmed in the budget’, 1 November 2024. Return to text
- HM Treasury, ‘Autumn budget 2024: Fixing the foundations to deliver change’, 30 October 2024, HC 295 of session 2024–25, p 103. Return to text
- As above, pp 103–4. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Funding for UK’s growth-driving creative industries confirmed in the budget’, 1 November 2024. Return to text
- Creative Industries Clusters Programme, ‘Creative industries clusters programme: The story so far 2021’, 12 April 2021. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Government boosts growth-driving creative industries in Merseyside and the West Midlands’, 27 November 2024. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘£60mn boost for creative industries to turbocharge growth’, 17 January 2025. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Culture secretary speech at the creative industries growth summit’, 24 January 2025. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Independent review to ensure access to high quality arts and culture in every region’, 17 December 2024. Return to text
- Labour Party, ‘Creating growth: Labour’s plan for the arts, culture and creative industries’, March 2024, p 14. Return to text
- Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, ‘New research points to a looming creative economy skills shortage across the UK’, 17 July 2024. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Culture secretary sets out plans to turbocharge the economic impact of British filmmaking’, 9 October 2024. For further information about Skills England and a new growth and skills levy to replace the apprenticeship levy, see: House of Lords Library, ‘Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [HL]’, 17 October 2024. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘‘Culture secretary speech at the creative industries growth summit’, 24 January 2025. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- For further information about the review, see section 3 of House of Lords Library, ‘Education for 11 to 16-year-olds: House of Lords committee report’ (23 July 2024). Return to text
- HC Hansard, 27 January 2025, col 56. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 27 January 2025, cols 56 and 57. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 27 January 2025, col 58. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 27 January 2025, col 56. For further information about changes to national insurance, see: House of Lords Library, ‘National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill [HL]’, 23 December 2024. The category “DCMS sectors” may include sectors outside the creative industries, such as sport, gambling and tourism. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 27 January 2025, col 57. Return to text
- HM Government, ‘Business rates relief: Retail hospitality and leisure relief’, accessed 28 January 2025. Return to text
- House of Commons Library, ‘Support for pubs and the hospitality sector’, 21 October 2024, p 10. Return to text
- HM Treasury, ‘Autumn budget 2024: Fixing the foundations to deliver change’, 30 October 2024, HC 295 of session 2024–25, p 130. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 27 January 2025, col 57. For further information about the Employment Rights Bill, see: House of Commons Library, ‘Employment Rights Bill 2024–24’, 18 October 2024. The £4.5bn figure appears to be taken from the government’s impact assessment for the bill. This said the maximum likely direct cost of the policies in the bill to businesses each year was £4.5bn, but this cost could be refined downwards as evidence improved and policy development continued.(UK Government, ‘Employment Rights Bill: Economic analysis’, October 2024, p 71.) This cost estimate was across the whole economy, not just for businesses in the creative industries. Return to text
- HC Hansard, 27 January 2025, col 58. Return to text
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Creative industries sector vision: A joint plan to drive growth, build talent and develop skills’, 20 June 2023. Return to text
- Creative UK, ‘Member briefing: Industrial strategy’, 5 November 2024. Return to text
- Historic England, ‘Open consultation: Invest 2035: The UK’s modern industrial strategy—Historic England response’, 23 November 2024. Return to text
- Crafts Council, ‘Invest 2035: The UK’s modern industrial strategy—Crafts Council response November 2024’, 21 November 2024. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- UK Music, ‘Invest 2035: The UK’s modern industrial strategy—UK Music submission’, November 2024. Return to text
- Society of London Theatres and UK Theatre, ‘Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre response to Invest 2035: The UK’s modern industrial strategy’, November 2024. Return to text
- Ukie, ‘Ukie responds to the industrial strategy’, 4 December 2024. Return to text
- Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, ‘With the right financial support creative industries could fuel the government’s growth mission and help tackle persistent regional inequality’, 16 October 2024. Return to text