Economic Update Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Economic Update

Siobhan Baillie Excerpts
Monday 11th January 2021

(3 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Rishi Sunak Portrait Rishi Sunak
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I am happy to assure the hon. Gentleman that my right hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury has met various groups and has received various proposals, and of course we will give those proposals fair and due consideration.

Siobhan Baillie Portrait Siobhan Baillie (Stroud) (Con) [V]
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Stroud and the south-west is packed with creative people and industries that need innovative support right now. Specifically, many UK film and TV productions have struggled to get insurance for costs related to covid-19. Can my right hon. Friend outline for the House what the Government are doing to support this £4 billion UK industry?

Rishi Sunak Portrait Rishi Sunak
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the importance of the creative industries to the UK economy and, indeed, to our social or cultural capital. That is why the Government have created a £500 million film insurance scheme, to which she rightly alluded. More than 100 different film productions have taken advantage of the scheme so far and it is currently safeguarding over 14,000 jobs. It is that kind of thinking that we hope can help drive our recovery and support the industry that she rightly champions.