Arts and Creative Industries: Social Mobility

Baroness Twycross Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Clancarty]

To ask His Majesty’s Government how they intend to improve social mobility for careers in the arts and creative industries.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Twycross) (Lab)]

My Lords, making creative careers accessible for everyone is a key priority for the Government. I agree wholeheartedly with the premise of the Question that there is an issue for us to address. That is why our refreshed £9 million creative careers service will focus on supporting priority areas where young people face the greatest barriers to accessing creative opportunities. It is also why last month we announced new funding for the King’s Trust to support direct routes for underrepresented groups into jobs, education and training in the sector.

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, the Sutton Trust finds that there are barriers to young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds at every stage of the creative industries pipeline—in schools, higher education and job opportunities. Does the Minister agree that the continuing loss of arts courses in higher education, from the loss of the prestigious undergraduate drama course at the Bristol Old Vic to the suspension of music courses at Nottingham University, does not sit well with the Government’s intent to improve arts education in state schools and increase social mobility in the creative industries?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

High-quality arts education cannot be for the privileged few. To provide certainty over future funding, we are increasing tuition fee caps by forecast inflation next year and the year after. Alongside this, we continue to invest in creative arts through the strategic priorities grant, which includes support for world-leading creative institutions. We will also revitalise arts education in schools through a reformed curriculum and support for teachers.

[Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Lab)]

My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister agree that the millions of pounds of investment announced by Cardiff-based company Bad Wolf at the summit in Newport will create thousands of creative industry jobs and support local business and talent development? The projects will include investment in trainee placements and work shadowing opportunities, which is a great example of social mobility in practice.

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[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I recognise what an important role my noble friend has had in inspiring young people to take up creative careers through her role and career as a teacher. We welcome the £2 million investment committed by Bad Wolf at the Wales Investment Summit last week, which is set to bring £30 million to the Welsh economy. Bad Wolf is a UK success story, having created thousands of jobs in Wales, and a key driver of the success of the Cardiff creative cluster, one of the largest film and TV hubs in the UK. It is really great to see that this investment will further grow this thriving cluster.

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (LD)]

My Lords, to follow up on what the noble Baroness said, increasing the take-up of apprenticeships could help the many with aspiration and aptitude, but no financial net, to get into the creative industries. As the Minister is aware, the present apprenticeship system does not fit well with the sector, given the prominence of SMEs and freelancers. Can she give us an update on reform in this area? How is her department progressing with Skills England to consider industry proposals on how a reformed growth and skills levy could better work with this industry?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

We are working with the DWP and Skills England to refine and develop the growth and skills offer to deliver apprenticeships and skills training that recognise the particular needs of the creative industries. We will introduce short courses in areas such as digital, artificial intelligence and engineering to support industrial strategy sectors such as the creative industries from April 2026. The first wave of these courses will be called apprenticeship units.

[Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie (Con)]

My Lords, the Minister will be aware that one of the ways we support young people to enter careers in the creative industries is through the music and dance scheme, but that scheme has not been reviewed since 2011. The eight schools that participate, ranging from the Royal Ballet School to the Purcell School and others, are on their knees for multiyear funding and some sort of increase on 2011. What can the Minister do to support these very important training institutions that will produce the Billy Elliots, the Nicola Benedettis and the wonderful artists in the creative industries of the future?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I am very happy to meet the noble Baroness to discuss this. I agree that those schools have an incredible record in this area. We are reforming the area of post-16 training pathways generally to make options simpler, clearer and better aligned to student needs and employer demand. We want to make sure that we preserve the best and increase opportunities by opening those up through our work. My noble friend Lady Smith, who is sitting beside me, is working to open up the skills area across the piece.

[Viscount Colville of Culross (CB)]

My Lords, a recent survey by BECTU, the broadcasting union, found that 49% of new entrants to the creative industries have been pressurised to take on unpaid work, often in the form of unpaid internships. Can the Minister tell the House whether the new fair work agency will be tasked with enforcing minimum wage legislation against unpaid internships and ensuring that internships are genuine learning experiences?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

Noble Lords will be aware that unpaid internships are already largely banned. The law is clear that if an individual is classed as a worker, they are entitled to at least the national minimum wage, and anybody eligible must be paid accordingly. The Government published a call for evidence on unpaid internships, which closed recently, and our response is due to be published in early 2026. I am happy to meet the noble Viscount to discuss this and other issues raised in the excellent report by BECTU; I will also draw his attention to the response on unpaid internships when it is published.

[Baroness Keeley (Lab)]

My Lords, music hubs play a key role in teaching music in state schools, so they play a key role in social mobility for the careers in music, stage, film and theatre that we are talking about. The management of music hubs is the subject of a tender that was due to be placed currently but has now been postponed until the new year. I know this is causing concern, so can my noble friend the Minister talk to our noble friend Lady Smith, who is sitting next to her, to ensure that the tender and the setting up of the national centre for arts and music education go ahead as planned?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The Government are making good progress on the national centre for arts and music education, which will lead the music hubs programme from September next year. As my noble friend rightly identifies, this is a DfE programme, so I will offer to write to her with the details she asks for.

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, alongside internships, work experience programmes are a very effective gateway for young people who are considering a career in the creative industries. Will the Minister ensure that all taxpayer-funded creative organisations offer a fair and transparent work experience programme that is widely advertised and available to all, whatever their background?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

One of the key barriers to social mobility is opportunity. We are keen for those programmes not to be overly informal because, as soon as they are, they become very dependent on networks and exclusive entry routes. We are clear that we need to make sure that the roles filled through personal networks, including work experience, are open to everyone. This is an issue that the Minister of State in DCMS is keen to explore further, but I will write to the noble Baroness with specific details.

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, a recent study by the Association for Art History and the Courtauld Institute of Art showed that just 17 state schools offer history of art at A-level, and only two of them are north of Nottingham. The subject is important not just for those who might become the curators and museum directors of the future but for a generation that will need to distinguish fact from fiction in an age of AI and deepfake images. What are the Government doing to make sure that everybody, no matter who they are, where they live or what their parents did, is able to enjoy this part of our shared cultural inheritance?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I agree with the noble Lord opposite that it is important that people get the opportunity to study art history. I raised this with a sector organisation this morning. That organisation was very clear that, although it is concerned about the geographical distribution of art history, there are so many more routes in. It was keen for us to make sure that people know about the opportunities that exist within the sector, because if people do not know about the opportunities that exist, how do they get those jobs? I am keen to explore this, both with my noble friend and with others, but, beyond that, there is a basic question about how we make sure that, in primary schools, children of all abilities and interests get to know about the hugely exciting range of opportunities that exist within the creative industries and sector as a starting point for what they might study later.