A new taskforce, led by Baroness Shriti Vadera and Sir Peter Bazalgette, to help deliver a plan to grow the creative industries met for the first time today.
- Taskforce to help deliver new plan to grow the creative industries
- Group to be led by Baroness Shriti Vadera and Sir Peter Bazalgette
Leaders of organisations including Creative UK, the British Fashion Council and the Royal Shakespeare Company, plus academics, investors and tech entrepreneurs, have joined a new taskforce to help inform the Government's strategy to unlock growth in the UK's highly valued creative industries, one of the eight growth-driving sectors of the Industrial Strategy.
The Creative Industries Taskforce met for the first time today (Wednesday 18 December) under the leadership of its co-chairs Baroness Shriti Vadera and Sir Peter Bazalgette.
The taskforce, announced in November , will work towards the development of an ambitious and targeted Creative Industries Sector Plan, helping to provide growth as part of the Government's Plan for Change and deliver on our decade of national renewal.
The plan will be published in the spring, alongside the Industrial Strategy, and will set out new policies and government interventions that will help to deliver a further boost to the creative industries' potential for spreading growth and opportunity for all.
The creative industries have been identified as a key growth-driving sector in the Government's Industrial Strategy , and will form a central part of the government's mission to grow the economy.
The taskforce will help to ensure that the Creative Industries Sector Plan is designed in partnership with business, devolved governments, regions, experts and other stakeholders.
Creative Industries Minister Sir Chris Bryant said:
Our world-leading creative industries, which are worth £125 billion to the economy and employ millions of people, were identified as a key growth-driving sector in the government's Industrial Strategy.
The sector will have a critical role to play in helping us deliver the mission of this government to drive economic growth into all of our towns and cities.
This taskforce will be central to achieving that goal, by helping to draw up a bold and ambitious Sector Plan which will enable further growth and innovation in the creative industries by unlocking private investment, boosting exports and developing our highly skilled creative workforce.
Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports Gareth Thomas said:
By working in partnership with industry, the Creative Industries Taskforce will play a vital role in helping to identify key opportunities for growth in the UK's brilliant and innovative creative sector.
We're listening to businesses and I'm delighted our Industrial Strategy will back our creative industries by encouraging further investment into the sector, increasing exports, kickstarting economic growth and supporting our Plan for Change.
At today's meeting, the taskforce discussed how to work with the Government to inform the development of the Sector Plan, with a focus on policy issues identified in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper , including crowding in investment, access to opportunity, people and skills, and supporting innovation.
The taskforce will work closely with the wider Creative Industries Council (CIC), from which several of its members are drawn.
It was announced last month that Sir Peter Bazalgette, the incumbent CIC industry co-chair, will extend his term until summer 2025 before stepping down, having served in the role since 2021. Baroness Vadera will then serve as industry co-chair for 18 months, alongside the Culture and Business Secretaries.
The members of the Creative Industries Taskforce are:
- Baroness Shriti Vadera (co-chair), chair, Royal Shakespeare Company, and future CIC co-chair
- Sir Peter Bazalgette (co-chair), current CIC co-chair
- Francesca Hegyi OBE, CEO, Edinburgh International Festival
- Prof Hasan Bakhshi MBE, director, Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre
- Caroline Norbury OBE, CEO, Creative UK
- Stephen Page, executive chair, Faber
- Caroline Rush CBE, CEO, British Fashion Council
- Prof Christopher Smith, CEO, AHRC
- Tom Adeyoola, co-founder, Extend Ventures, and non-executive board member, Channel 4
- Lynn Barlow, academic and TV producer
- Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
- Philippa Childs, deputy general secretary, Bectu Sector of Prospect
- Saul Klein OBE, investor and member of the Council of Science and Tech
- Sir William Sargent, chair and co-founder, Framestore
- Prof Jonathan Haskel CBE, professor of economics, Imperial Business School
- Syima Aslam MBE, founder and CEO, Bradford Literature Festival
