Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps with her international counterparts to support the digital creative arts.

The Government has set out a clear plan to grow the creative industries by a further £50 billion and add another 1 million jobs by 2030. This builds on our record of introducing tax reliefs across the creative industries, including the digital creative arts.

In order to deliver this, in the Creative Industries Sector Vision we set out a focus on increasing exports. We are therefore taking steps to ensure that the UK’s trade policy reflects industry priorities and delivers access to priority markets. In addition to maximising creative exports, we have committed to increasing creative industries’ international exposure and strengthening global cultural relationships to both unlock these opportunities and tackle key issues facing our creative sectors.

DCMS is working closely with the British Council and the UK cultural sector to promote our digital creative arts internationally. The UK’s leadership in this area is commended by our international counterparts, as well as in multilateral fora such as the G7 and G20.

We also work with international counterparts on a number of fronts to support the creation of a pipeline of talent in the digital arts, including through funding internationally-focused education and skills programmes that foster collaboration across continents and build on our existing relationships overseas. For example, the National Film and Television School (NFTS) programme, Inside Pictures, is supported by DCMS and enables high potential, mid-career TV and film specialists to continue their professional development through an international training programme operating in both London and LA.

DCMS recognises the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the creative industries, including digital creative arts. It is important that while we harness the benefits of AI, we also manage the risks. This includes risks to the creative and cultural sectors and to copyright-holders. As set out in the Government’s AI White Paper consultation response, critical to this work will be close engagement with international counterparts.