Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with representatives of the film production industry on the standards of recruitment within the film industry.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
There is regular discussion between the government and film industry at both Ministerial and official level on a range of topics, including on workforce and skills issues.
The Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out this Government’s ambitions, shared with industry, to support this high-growth sector up to 2030. The second chapter of the Sector Vision focuses on the creative workforce and includes our 2030 job quality objective: that all parts of the creative industries are recognised for offering high quality jobs, ensuring a resilient and productive workforce that reflects the whole of the UK. It is vital therefore that we ensure the right recruitment practices are in place to support the sector.
The Good Work Review, published in February 2023 by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, was co-funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and is the first sectoral deep dive of its kind into job quality and working practice in the creative industries. We have committed to, together with industry, set out an action plan to assess the recommendations of the review - including developing and reporting on recruitment practices.
To play their part in responding to the recommendations set out in the Good Work Review, the BFI has allocated £1,500,000 of National Lottery funds to a Good Work Programme for Screen. The programme aims to create a ‘one stop shop’ where businesses and individuals can access key resources, advice, support, and training to strengthen recruitment, management, and HR practices; build more inclusive workplaces; and aid workforce productivity.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance has been issued to the film and television industry regarding the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Work in the film and television industry is covered under the general requirements of the Health and Safety etc. Act 1974 and associated regulations. However, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) also provides extensive guidance on common or higher risk activities encountered across multiple industries which may be applicable to activities within film and television production, e.g. working at height or managing asbestos (when filming on location).
HSE also provides a range of guidance which is specific to film and television industry that describes the various roles and responsibilities of those within the production process (INDG360: Health and safety in audio-visual production. Your legal duties) and information sheets for specific production activities and risks, e.g. stunts, use of firearms and filming while using vehicles.
All guidance and information are freely available on the HSE website, a section of which is dedicated to health and safety in the film, theatre and broadcasting industries.
Alongside this, industry specific guidance is also available from a range of industry bodies and stakeholders.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with HM Treasury on consultation with creative industry stakeholders on changes to cultural tax reliefs.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Since 2010, the Government has supported the success of the creative industries with tax reliefs across the board: from film and TV, to animation, video games, children’s TV, animation, orchestras, museums and galleries, and theatre.
All in all, our screen sector tax reliefs alone are estimated to have delivered over 200,000 new jobs and more than £13 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA).
These tax reliefs have played a vital role in making the UK’s creative industries world leading, attracting investment and generating jobs and economic growth across the country.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Ministers and officials regularly engage with my HM Treasury counterparts on matters relating to the creative industries, including on cultural sector tax matters.
Reforms to the film, TV and video games tax reliefs were announced at Autumn Statement 2022 and were subject to a 12-week policy consultation. HM Treasury met with creative industry stakeholders during this consultation period.
Draft legislation for these reforms, and for separate technical clarifications to the cultural tax reliefs for theatres, orchestras and museums and galleries tax reliefs were published in July 2023. The draft legislation was also subject to a 12-week consultation. HM Treasury met with creative industry stakeholders during the consultation period.
To maximise the potential of the UK’s cutting-edge production industry and help incubate unique British talent, the Government’s Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit and the Video Games Expenditure Credit came into force on 1 January 2024.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase the number of post-production film and tv industry jobs in the UK.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The recently published Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise. As part of this, it will be important to expand career opportunities in post-production film and television.
The Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out a range of interventions across education, skills and job quality to achieve this. The forthcoming joint Department for Education and Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Cultural Education Plan will support the provision of high quality cultural education for all school-age children, including careers advice and skills development. This will provide young people with a window into the sector, and access to important foundational skills.
Strengthening talent pipelines for young people is also a priority. This will be delivered through our Creative Careers Programme, 14 new creative Local Skills Improvement Plans across England announced this summer, two new creative T-Levels rolling out in September 2024, and multiple national and regional opportunities to participate in digital and creative Skills Bootcamps.
These interventions complement the investment the sector is already making on skills, including the BFI’s £9 million National Lottery funded ‘Skills Clusters’ which will support skills development and training across the UK; ScreenSkills’ £19 million Future Film Skills Programme which has helped over 119,000 people progress in screen careers since 2018; and the work of the DCMS-funded, world-leading National Film and Television School.
Following the publication of the BFI’s Film and High-End TV Skills Review (2022), industry has set up the UK Production Skills Task Force for the Screen Sector to produce an industry-led response to the review. This will include supporting and delivering an action plan to address the skills shortages, gaps, and related workforce challenges in the sector over the next 5 years. Following on from the BFI's Skills Review, the BFI are now conducting a scoping study of the skills needs in the UK's animation, post-production, video games, and VFX sectors.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of investment in the film and tv industry in Sunderland on (a) industry skills shortages, (b) local employment opportunities and (c) levels of private investment in (i) Sunderland and (ii) the North East.
Answered by John Whittingdale
I am aware of the Crown Works studio proposal in Sunderland and look forward to continuing my engagement with stakeholders to hear more about this project. I regularly engage with Cabinet colleagues on matters related to the creative industries.
The recently published Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise. The film and television industries play an important role in the wider creative industries.
My department continues to work closely with its Arm’s Length Body, the British Film Institute (BFI), to ensure a wide range of funding and initiatives are available to support the film industry. This is in addition to the UK-wide screen sector tax reliefs, and the UK Global Screen Fund which will invest £28 million in the international growth of independent screen companies across the UK. This is in addition to the UK-wide screen sector tax reliefs, and the UK Global Screen Fund which will invest £28 million in the international growth of independent screen companies across the UK. The BFI produces the Screen Business Report, which assesses the impact of the tax reliefs across all nations and regions of the UK.
The £28.4 million Create Growth Programme (CGP), is supporting creative businesses to attract private investment through a combination of capital, business support and investor capacity building. It currently covers six regions in England, including parts of the North East of England.
The British Film Institute also launched their skills clusters programme in April, committing £8.1m of National Lottery funding over 2023-26 to support the development of six regional skills clusters across the UK. The funding focuses on establishing localised support for skills development and training, building on existing production infrastructure, with the aim to develop local crew bases and create new opportunities for people from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in the sector. Screen Yorkshire, Liverpool Film Office, Screen Manchester, and North East Screen have partnered together, under the name ‘Screen Alliance North’, to jointly lead the ‘North of England’ cluster - which has been awarded £2.3m for 2023-26.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the planned Crown Works Studios in Sunderland on (a) Sunderland and (b) the North East.
Answered by John Whittingdale
I am aware of the Crown Works studio proposal in Sunderland and look forward to continuing my engagement with stakeholders to hear more about this project. I regularly engage with Cabinet colleagues on matters related to the creative industries.
The recently published Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise. The film and television industries play an important role in the wider creative industries.
My department continues to work closely with its Arm’s Length Body, the British Film Institute (BFI), to ensure a wide range of funding and initiatives are available to support the film industry. This is in addition to the UK-wide screen sector tax reliefs, and the UK Global Screen Fund which will invest £28 million in the international growth of independent screen companies across the UK. This is in addition to the UK-wide screen sector tax reliefs, and the UK Global Screen Fund which will invest £28 million in the international growth of independent screen companies across the UK. The BFI produces the Screen Business Report, which assesses the impact of the tax reliefs across all nations and regions of the UK.
The £28.4 million Create Growth Programme (CGP), is supporting creative businesses to attract private investment through a combination of capital, business support and investor capacity building. It currently covers six regions in England, including parts of the North East of England.
The British Film Institute also launched their skills clusters programme in April, committing £8.1m of National Lottery funding over 2023-26 to support the development of six regional skills clusters across the UK. The funding focuses on establishing localised support for skills development and training, building on existing production infrastructure, with the aim to develop local crew bases and create new opportunities for people from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in the sector. Screen Yorkshire, Liverpool Film Office, Screen Manchester, and North East Screen have partnered together, under the name ‘Screen Alliance North’, to jointly lead the ‘North of England’ cluster - which has been awarded £2.3m for 2023-26.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the Crown Works Studios development in Sunderland.
Answered by John Whittingdale
I am aware of the Crown Works studio proposal in Sunderland and look forward to continuing my engagement with stakeholders to hear more about this project. I regularly engage with Cabinet colleagues on matters related to the creative industries.
The recently published Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise. The film and television industries play an important role in the wider creative industries.
My department continues to work closely with its Arm’s Length Body, the British Film Institute (BFI), to ensure a wide range of funding and initiatives are available to support the film industry. This is in addition to the UK-wide screen sector tax reliefs, and the UK Global Screen Fund which will invest £28 million in the international growth of independent screen companies across the UK. This is in addition to the UK-wide screen sector tax reliefs, and the UK Global Screen Fund which will invest £28 million in the international growth of independent screen companies across the UK. The BFI produces the Screen Business Report, which assesses the impact of the tax reliefs across all nations and regions of the UK.
The £28.4 million Create Growth Programme (CGP), is supporting creative businesses to attract private investment through a combination of capital, business support and investor capacity building. It currently covers six regions in England, including parts of the North East of England.
The British Film Institute also launched their skills clusters programme in April, committing £8.1m of National Lottery funding over 2023-26 to support the development of six regional skills clusters across the UK. The funding focuses on establishing localised support for skills development and training, building on existing production infrastructure, with the aim to develop local crew bases and create new opportunities for people from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in the sector. Screen Yorkshire, Liverpool Film Office, Screen Manchester, and North East Screen have partnered together, under the name ‘Screen Alliance North’, to jointly lead the ‘North of England’ cluster - which has been awarded £2.3m for 2023-26.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the (a) economic contribution of the film and television industries to each region and (b) potential economic benefit of increased investment in that industry in the North East.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The recently published Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise. The film and television industries play an important role in the wider creative industries.
My department continues to work closely with its Arm’s Length Body, the British Film Institute (BFI), to ensure a wide range of funding and initiatives are available to support the film industry. This is in addition to the UK-wide screen sector tax reliefs, and the UK Global Screen Fund which will invest £28 million in the international growth of independent screen companies across the UK. The BFI produces the Screen Business Report, which assesses the impact of the tax reliefs across all nations and regions of the UK.
The £28.4 million Create Growth Programme (CGP) is supporting creative businesses to attract private investment through a combination of capital, business support and investor capacity building. It currently covers six regions in England, including parts of the North East of England.
The British Film Institute also launched their skills clusters programme in April, committing £8.1m of National Lottery funding over 2023-26 to support the development of six regional skills clusters across the UK. The funding focuses on establishing localised support for skills development and training, building on existing production infrastructure, with the aim to develop local crew bases and create new opportunities for people from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in the sector. Screen Yorkshire, Liverpool Film Office, Screen Manchester, and North East Screen have partnered together, under the name ‘Screen Alliance North’, to jointly lead the ‘North of England’ cluster - which has been awarded £2.3m for 2023-26.
I am aware of the Crown Works studio proposal in Sunderland and I look forward to continuing my engagement with stakeholders to hear more about this project.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with (a) internal and (b) external stakeholders on the Crown Works Studio project in Sunderland.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The recently published Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise. The film and television industries play an important role in the wider creative industries.
My department continues to work closely with its Arm’s Length Body, the British Film Institute (BFI), to ensure a wide range of funding and initiatives are available to support the film industry. This is in addition to the UK-wide screen sector tax reliefs, and the UK Global Screen Fund which will invest £28 million in the international growth of independent screen companies across the UK. The BFI produces the Screen Business Report, which assesses the impact of the tax reliefs across all nations and regions of the UK.
The £28.4 million Create Growth Programme (CGP) is supporting creative businesses to attract private investment through a combination of capital, business support and investor capacity building. It currently covers six regions in England, including parts of the North East of England.
The British Film Institute also launched their skills clusters programme in April, committing £8.1m of National Lottery funding over 2023-26 to support the development of six regional skills clusters across the UK. The funding focuses on establishing localised support for skills development and training, building on existing production infrastructure, with the aim to develop local crew bases and create new opportunities for people from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in the sector. Screen Yorkshire, Liverpool Film Office, Screen Manchester, and North East Screen have partnered together, under the name ‘Screen Alliance North’, to jointly lead the ‘North of England’ cluster - which has been awarded £2.3m for 2023-26.
I am aware of the Crown Works studio proposal in Sunderland and I look forward to continuing my engagement with stakeholders to hear more about this project.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has in place to support the entertainment industry in a (a) national emergency and (b) pandemic.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Responses to national emergencies and pandemics are led by the Cabinet Office, and the UK has well-developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of scenarios.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) co-ordinated unprecedented levels of support for the cultural and creative sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic, including but not limited to the Live Events Reinsurance Scheme, the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme, and the Culture Recovery Fund. Evaluations and lessons learned from these schemes will allow the UK to respond effectively to any future scenario where similar initiatives may be required.
Following our experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, DCMS has established a small, permanent incident response team which will coordinate across the Department and with the central response team in the event of a national emergency.