What the Creative Industries Sector Plan Means for Your Research and Policy Agenda
The UK Government’s Creative Industries Sector Plan was published today, making a range of commitments from increasing public investment in R&D, to securing growth finance for the creative industries, to funding creative clusters and corridors of regional activity.
Its ambition is to ensure the UK’s creative industries sector can “capitalise on new commercial opportunities and is at the forefront of tackling the challenges of our era – from managing the rise of new technologies to building a resilient, skilled and diverse workforce”.
Lots of research - including Erskine’s! - went into writing the plan, and there are probably quite a few academics, think tankers and consultants who are looking forward to a well deserved break over the summer following its publication.
If this is you, I have bad news.
As you might expect, an 80-page document can’t solve all of the challenges facing a sector that accounts for over 5% of the UK economy. In some areas, it explicitly acknowledges that further work is needed before a full strategy is published.
So - if you are are sitting in an academic department, creative business or think tank with a research or policy budget, want to influence the future of the policy, and don’t have big summer plans, what might the Sector Plan mean for you over the next six months?
R&D and Innovation
The plan announces that UKRI (the Government’s arms-length body for research and innovation) will publish a new Creative Industries R&D strategy later in 2025. This represents a major opportunity for the sector and UKRI to align on a shared language and identify investment priorities that work across the full spectrum of creative businesses, from freelancers to multinationals. Years of research and advocacy have highlighted the challenges of accessing R&D funding in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and parts of the creative economy. With a tight timeline ahead, the sector now needs to provide clear, practical and sub-sector specific examples that meet UKRI’s ambitions and reflect real-world needs.
Separately, HMRC will publish revised guidance on R&D tax reliefs in 2025. Now is a good time to flag any issues creative businesses have faced in accessing these reliefs, or areas where eligibility remains unclear.
The Plan also confirms that Creative UK will work with Government Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and other technology leaders to accelerate the adoption of responsible AI. Are you an expert in responsible AI in your part of the creative economy? Might be time to get in touch with Creative UK colleagues, who have a mammoth task ahead of them thinking about responsible AI in sub-sectors as varied as performing arts, design, film and games.
Creative Industries Clusters
The Plan emphasises the need for growth across the UK and outlines several policies to help drive it. These include a £100 million UKRI investment over the current Spending Review period to support the next wave of R&D creative clusters in new sub-sectors and regions, and funding through the Government’s new £150 million Creative Places Growth Fund to enable six Mayoral Strategic Authorities to expand locally tailored investment readiness support. If your region has a significant creative business base but hasn’t yet mapped its specific strengths and challenges, now is the time to start. Understanding how local investment could contribute to national growth ambitions may help you support your mayoral authority’s efforts, or could help to future bid for the next round of cluster funding.
Education, skills and jobs
Several ongoing reviews, including of the curriculum, will be critical to the future of the English education system and the creative industries. Some developments that may not yet be on your radar, but are important for research planning, include: the forthcoming post-16 education and skills strategy; the newly announced DCMS and Skills England-led Creative Sector Skills Forum; and the Digital Skills Council, an industry-led advisory body. All of these initiatives are expected to move quickly, so if you have strong evidence about the current or future skills needs in your part of the sector, now is the time to share it.
The Plan also included the welcome news that DCMS will - is it ok to say finally? - appoint a Creative Freelance Champion to advocate for freelancers within government and sit on the Creative Industries Council. With such a large share of the sector made up of freelancers, it’s worth considering whether you are clear on which specific policy issues are currently holding them back.
Exports
Since Brexit, progress on some trade-related issues in the creative industries has been slow - understandably so, given it is often impossible to act unilaterally on trade and there is strong competition for diplomatic attention and funding across sectors. The Sector Plan aims to reinvigorate creative exports with the development of new trade and investment plans for priority and high-growth emerging markets, working in partnership with the creative sector. These plans will focus on high-growth sub-sectors and address key policy levers, including export promotion, inward investment, trade policy, and soft power.
In parallel, the Government has signalled an intention to deepen its understanding of supply chain vulnerabilities through a new Supply Chain Centre.
For trade wonks, or those companies working internationally, this is a crucial moment to make needs, concerns, and opportunities clear. The creative sector is rightly confident in promoting its strengths, but this is also the time to raise any warning signs, including where the UK may be overly reliant on potentially fragile markets.
Games
The UK’s video games sector gets some much needed attention in the Plan, with the announcement of a new industry-led UK Video Games Council. This group of industry representatives will work with government and the Creative Industries Council to support sector growth. In addition, a new industry-led video games skills strategy is set to launch in 2025. If you have a clear sense of the needs of the games sector, this is the time to get your thoughts in order (and possibly to prep your council membership application).
Data
What a joy to have an evaluation and measurement chapter in the Sector Plan! This announced that DCMS and DBT are aiming to improve access to official statistics, evidence and data - so the perfect time to get honest with the Government about un-knowable data publication timelines, broken links, or stats you’d love to see.
The Plan also confirms that DCMS is working with the ONS, DBT and other departments to contribute to the review of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes with a view to improving how the sector is identified, particularly for video games and music. If your part of the creative industries is chronically undervalued, this is a good time to work out if SIC codes are part of the problem, and if so, work with the Government to find a solution.
If none of these appeal and you still have cash or time to spare, no fear - Dame Margaret Hodge is still hard at work on her review of Arts Council England, we are expecting a consultation from the FCDO on soft power any day, and work on the English curriculum and IP and AI continues apace. Good luck topping up your tan.
There is enough research here to occupy hundreds of researchers, so if you’d like to collaborate then please do get in touch!
