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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to support the creative industries in the East Midlands.

Government recognises the role played by creative businesses, including media, right across the UK in local economic growth. Government supports this growth via tax credits, regional development programmes, relocation of Arms Length Bodies associated with the sector, rebasing of public sector broadcasters and putting ‘place’ at the heart of the Industrial Strategy. The department does not collect data on creative industries investment on a region-by-region basis.

DCMS funds Arms Length Bodies, which invest in arts and culture on a regional basis. These interventions support future skills and talent that go on to work in the Creative Industries. According to Arts Council England and British Film Institute data, the East Midlands have received grant-in-aid and lottery support of more than £127m since 2016. The East Midlands have also benefited from UK-wide programmes operated by these bodies.

Employing over 100,000 people, the East Midlands Creative Industries contributed £2.5bn to the UK economy in 2017. This was an increase of 9% since the previous year and represented faster growth than the wider national economy.

As part of the Audience of the Future immersive programme, a sector deal commitment, £4m was awarded to WEAVR – a virtual reality consortium which will work with leading academics and innovators across immersive technologies. This consortium is led by Leicester-based Turtle Entertainment UK.