NEWS: CIC recovery plan is with govt

Industry recovery plan is with Government

Proposals developed by the industry members of the Creative Industries Council (CIC) to support the transition and recovery of the UK creative industries through the Covid-19 pandemic are with ministers.

The plan of measures, submitted to government in early June, is designed to enable the creative industries to make a swift rebound from the impact of the pandemic and the restrictions introduced to counter it.

It includes proposals to drive recovery across key areas including innovation, access to investment, fiscal incentives, skills and talent, and international trade.

In a letter to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden and Business Secretary Alok Sharma, written to accompany the plan, Tim Davie, Industry Co-Chair of the CIC, said that the creative industries employed more than 2m people and had been growing twice as fast as the economy as a whole, but these industries had been severely affected by the pandemic and there was a risk the outbreak could have long-lasting damaging effects.

While acknowledging that many parts of the economy have been hit by the impact of Covid-19 and the government has announced support for businesses in general - including creative businesses - the plan is designed to identify specific problems and remedies for creative organisations and their workforces.

It is feared that unless specific measures for the creative industries are introduced, the long-term impact of the outbreak could be to reverse these industries' track record of economic growth and undermine commitments to develop a diverse future pipeline of talent and foster the creation of new creative industries jobs in all parts of the UK.

The plan is based on built on the following objectives:

• to protect jobs in all parts of the UK
• to secure the pipeline of new talent and career opportunities in the creative
• industries while sustaining and improving diversity
• to re-establish and grow the UK‚Äôs international competitiveness and status as
• global hub for the creative industries
• to turbocharge innovation across the sector as a driver for future growth
• to ensure access to investment finance for creative businesses with potential to
• grow in the near-to-medium term

The broad proposals in the plan, build on existing work to mitigate the crisis in the sector, offer a mixture of short-term measures and longer-term policies to support post-recovery growth.

They cover:

• Tapered Covid-19 support to avoid a cliff edge; plus help in securing insurance to enable key subsectors to restart

• R&D stimulus - widening access to R&D tax relief to support investment in innovation
• R&D challenge funding ‚Äì adjusting and expanding short-term opportunities, including further support for R&D clusters around the UK
• Access to Finance: boosting access for high-potential CI businesses, including measures to support growth outside London
• Fiscal incentives: stimulating renewed investment in creative production
  
• Reactivating the talent pipeline, sustaining and improving diversity
• Export support: an agile, industry-led approach to re-enter key markets quickly

Download the recovery plan.

As part of the CreaTech stage at the recent Virtual Cog-X 2020 festival, the importance of the creative industries to the UK's economic future, international influence and social wellbeing was reasserted by several ministers including Caroline Dinenage, Minister of State for Digital and Culture, and Graham Stuart, Minister for Exports.

In 2018, the May government agreed a sector deal with the Creative Industries Council on a range of measures to accelerate the future growth of the UK's creative sectors.

Related:

Creative Industries Sector Deal 2018; update on Sector Deal after Year 1

Creative Exports Strategy