Good evening, it is a pleasure to be with you today. I am delighted to be invited by Caroline who is a true pioneer in the creative industries.
Creative UK plays a crucial role in advocating for convening organizations across the cultural and creative industries. I know hundreds of you are members, and I appreciate the programs that Creative UK runs across the UK. Creative UK believes that creativity can change the world. I think so too.
This evening I want to talk about some of the fruits of joint cooperation between government and industry. Fruits that help set a strong framework for the industry to flourish and helped pave the way for the types of measures we have introduced today.
I wanted to start by paying tribute to some of the great creativity I have seen over the past year as Minister of Culture.
Because there are so many wonderful productions bringing joy and meaning to people across the country: first-class productions of the original work in The Motive and the Cue at The National; A modern interpretation of Othello in The Globe; The traditional and beautiful production of Cinderella at the Royal Opera House; real British dramas like Happy Valley and Inside Man; Outstanding films like Saltburn and Oppenheimer; “Look, Hear, Feel” Ukraine Interactive exhibition in Liverpool during Eurovision; the stunning Aviva Studios in Manchester, home to the new flagship destination Factory International; Our world-leading fashions on display in the NEWGEN Rebel exhibition at the Design Museum.
Every show, every production, festival or exhibition is incredible in itself but is also part of a much bigger picture of creative success. Every creative endeavor relies fundamentally on the incredible innovation, technical expertise and craftsmanship of many. Such as 4Wood TV & Film, a Welsh-based, West Midlands-grown photography company that designs for Doctor Who and much more.
And while we've seen exceptional British talent recognized in recent weeks at the BAFTA Awards and London Fashion Week, the creativity shown at a grassroots level is no less inspiring.
Our startups, schools, colleges, and popular centers are all incubators of ideas and home to tomorrow's creative geniuses. Our cultural institutions like the Royal Shakespeare Company are doing pioneering work in transforming literacy rates across England. The National Theater brings the best of theater to schools, libraries and museums. Meanwhile, venues like Roundhouse Works in London or The Junction in Cambridge are providing opportunities for the next generation of musicians and creatives.
One of the most inspiring visits I made was to the London Screen Academy. Seeing how Charlie Kennard and the team are building a talent pool of confident, creative children who are learning skills so essential to all functions of communication, teamwork and presentation skills.
What is very clear to me is that your ingenuity, skills and creative excellence not only bring happiness and meaning to the lives of millions of people, but also provide employment opportunities across the country and enhance our position as a cultural superpower on the world stage. .
And this evening I wanted to share with you – just in case there was any doubt about this – how supportive this Government has been of you and the creative industries.
And I wanted to do it through story. At the end of last year, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Commerce organized the Global Investment Summit. The summit invited more than 200 leading international investors to promote the UK as a destination for foreign investment. There were only 4 plenary sessions and 2 were dedicated to the creative industries – that's half of the presentations dedicated to the creative industries.
It has been an overwhelming recognition from this Government that our businesses, innovators, creators and artists today – in 2024 – will put a British stamp on every creative industry on the global stage. You are our shop window to the world and we in government realize that.
This British success around the world is, of course, primarily the result of our ingenuity, talent, hard work and entrepreneurial spirit. But you also worked with us in government in partnership. Over the past decade, you have shown how we can support your industries to thrive, and we have listened.
Extensive tax breaks.
£1.57 billion support through the Covid Culture Recovery Fund.
A set of funds to help creative entrepreneurs move from the start-up stage to the expansion stage.
Successive Conservative governments have identified the potential in our creative economy; They understood the tremendous dedication and determination of companies and individuals in these sectors; They realized the importance of creative industries in our way of life.
Over the past decade, the government has provided tax breaks in one form or another every year.
From films to animation to video games to orchestras to theatres, these tax breaks have helped attract huge global investment to the UK.
It is global investment that translates into local jobs and livelihoods, into new businesses in our towns and cities – large and small – into a culture that encourages creativity at every turn and at every level.
We in the government cannot guarantee success, but all we can do is create the right conditions and the right framework to enhance this success.
And I wanted to share with you this evening the impact of all this and what the statistics show. The statistics show: nearly one million new jobs in creative industries since 2011; The sector's gross value added increased by 50% to reach £125 billion in 2022.
Exports of creative industries services have increased by 210% since 2010.
Recently published figures confirmed that the sector grew by more than 10% between 2019 and 2022.
These are not just statistics. Behind these numbers there are hundreds, if not thousands of success stories across the country. Ideas brought to life by the creative industries. Jobs that didn't exist more than a decade ago. And the creativity that we all enjoyed, that could have gone somewhere else, but didn't.
None of this would be possible without the energy, drive, creativity, passion and investment of the people in this room and beyond. So I wanted to take this evening to simply say thank you for all you do.
But we cannot rest on our laurels. When I spoke to you last year at this same event, I committed to presenting an ambitious vision for your industries.
These are not just words, I wanted to share with you what I have done over the past year.
In June, we launched our Creative Sector Vision, developed in partnership with the Creative Industries Council and the brilliant Sir Peter Bazalgetti, which sets out our plan for the future.
We have a joint plan to deliver £50bn of growth, 1 million additional jobs and a talent pool so the industry can continue to thrive. We say we will do that by 2030.
Our plan included £310 million in funding, of which £77 million was recently announced in June, to drive growth in creative businesses across the country, through projects such as financial support for creative clusters in the regions because we recognize that creativity is everywhere.
It includes a focus on skills from the first day of school to the last day of work, including for example creativity during primary school, specialist schools, further vocational training, and boot camps in the creative industries.
At the same time as we announced the Creative Industries Sector Vision in June, we announced programs such as: the UK Games Fund to bring in early stage games developers; Funding to support popular music venues; And the music export growth plan has tripled which has helped many emerging artists.
Today in the Budget we build on all our existing support and vision for the creative industries, going further than ever before with a £1 billion package of measures.
Budget recognized that within the creative industries there are a whole range of sub-sectors, each with their own needs, each with their own nuances, and each with their own huge potential for growth.
What we've done today is provide tailored support to many of these different parts of the broader sector.
So for our film studios – which were key to the fact that half of the top ten British blockbusters last year were produced on British soil – we are providing support with 40% business rates relief until 2034, enabling our studios to attract investment. What is needed from around the world to bring more creativity and more creative jobs to Britain.
For British independent films, we are supporting these companies with a new UK Independent Film Tax Credit that provides an increased benefit of 53%, enabling this part of the sector to continue to launch the careers of actors, producers and directors and tell the cultural stories of films. The entire United Kingdom.
For our visual effects sector, there will be a 5% increase in tax relief and we will remove the 80% cap on eligible visual effects expenses in the UK. These new visual effects will come into effect in 2025 and our aim is to make the UK the number one global destination for visual effects.
For our orchestras, museums, galleries and theatres, CX has today confirmed that the Government will set permanent higher rates of tax credits to continue Government support for new innovative productions.
Effective April 1, 2025, these rates will be permanently set at 45% for all orchestral and touring productions and at 40% for non-touring productions.
And that's not all! As part of our plan to create the pipeline of talent our creative sectors need to thrive, today’s Budget included funding for the National Film and Television School to enable it to expand its site – increase course provision, build a state-of-the-art Technical Training Center and continue to train the next generation of the world’s leading creative talent.
And last but not least, the Chancellor also announced dedicated support for the National Theatre, one of our great cultural institutions, which is so important to promoting, inspiring and providing opportunities for our creative talent in the UK, through £100 in savings. $26.4 million for urgent infrastructure improvements. This investment will future-proof the theater's facilities and support its long-term success.
These measures came about because of our joint partnership. Many people in this room helped make these announcements. You have shown, with your excellence and creativity, what we can achieve. You and the industry as a whole have provided evidence, case studies and analysis that have helped me make the case to the Treasury for this investment.
Together, these measures represent another major step in the support this government is providing to enable our creative industries to grow; Building on our strong track record dating back over a decade.
But let me also say that I appreciate that although the creative industries have had significant growth in recent years, I know that they have not been without their challenges.
I take seriously my responsibility to listen, understand and respond to feedback from those on the front lines of our creative industries.
I know there are countless challenges across your industries.
The strikes had an impact on the television and film sector.
I know that the nature of freelancing creates uncertainty for a lot of people.
There is a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of red tape, and a lot of travel restrictions.
Popular places are struggling to survive.
Getting investment can sometimes be difficult.
And this is all without mentioning some of the concerns that exist when it comes to the potential for generative AI to be misused to steal the original work of the people in this room.
And I want you to know that I work across and outside government on all of these issues. I fully understand these challenges and do not underestimate them.
So, while today is a really good day for our creative industries… that doesn't mean at all that there isn't more to do. More efforts must be made to ensure this sector continues to thrive.
That's why I'm committed to working every day to realize our vision for the creative industries sector. I look forward to working in partnership with all of you to support the sector to reach its absolute full potential.
Thank you very much.
