Minister of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, has unveiled his vision for the sector on the back of the British government’s ambitious plans to grow the creative industries by £50 billion .
As the minister responsible for the creative industries, I often hear about the difficulties they face trying to find people with the technical skills these exciting roles require. And yet I also know that there are countless people across the country who don’t believe a creative career is open to them, or possible because of where they live. It’s a huge challenge, and one the government is committed to tackling through the Creative Industries Sector Vision.
We know that creative businesses grow quicker in ‘clusters,’ geographic regions where firms thrive through competition and collaboration. You only have to look at Wales to see this in action, where the region around Cardiff is home to over 1,300 audiovisual media companies as well as the Welsh arm of the National Film and Television School which has industry partnerships with local TV and indie film companies.
We will tackle barriers that hold people back from accessing creative skills and training at all stages of their career and we’ll make sure technical qualifications and programs like T Levels* and apprenticeships are right for the world of creative work.