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The Government and the Creative Industries Council have published their vision for the creative industries. It sets out how the public and private sectors will work together to help the creative industries – including the cultural sector - grow and contribute to the UK’s economy. 

The creative industries were some of the fastest growing areas of the economy in the years leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic, contributing over £100billion a year to the UK economy. Building on this success, the vision sets out plans to increase the value of the UK’s creative industries by £50billion by 2030, and create a further million jobs in the sector. 

These plans cover a huge range of issues facing the creative industries, including the need to strengthen creative clusters – groups of creative businesses and cultural organisations based in a particular area, whose proximity helps them support each other’s work and create new opportunities, while contributing to their local economies. 

Another area covered by the plans is talent and skill development. Initiatives in this area include an extra £5million of funding for the Arts Council’s successful fund for grassroots music venues, as well as plans to publish a new Cultural Education Plan later this year, and work with employers to match post-16 education to skills needed by the sector. 

Darren Henley, CEO of Arts Council England, said “the creative industries are one of Britain’s biggest success stories.  They form one of the country’s fastest growing sectors, and provide an increasing number of skilled, rewarding jobs for people across the country.  The new sector vision reflects that success, and is appropriately ambitious in its expectations for what the creative industries can deliver in future. 

“As well as producing works that inspire, challenge and entertain audiences, and enhance the UK’s reputation around the world, the cultural sector acts as a pipeline for the talent and ideas that fuel other parts of the creative industries.  This is why we are delighted by the Government’s announcement of £5million for grassroots music, which will not only support venues and their communities across England, but also support the emerging artists who will be the household names of the future. 

“The sector vision also sets out various other plans that will benefit the cultural sector: international collaboration and exports are vital for cultural collaboration, creative clusters support cultural organisations and artists as well as local economies, and the Cultural Education Plan will help to make sure the cultural sector has the talented workforce it needs to thrive.  We look forward to seeing the impact this ambitious vision has in the coming years.”