Update on West Midlands Economic Strategy

See previous post for digest of the consultation draft of the West Midlands' Regional Economic Strategy (RES) but there is now a news update....

The final RES will be published on 10th December along with the Regional Spatial Strategy but there is another draft of it published online now (see bottom of this page).

So, just to update you on those all-important word counts:

• 'Creative Industries'
  Down from 6 mentions in original draft to 3 mentions in the current draft.
• 'Manufacturing'
  Up from 24 mentions to 34 mentions.
• 'Carbon'
  Up from 53 mentions to 105 mentions.
• 'Birmingham'
  Up from 59 mentions to 109 mentions.

One I didn't mention last time was:

• 'Digital'
  Up from 4 mentions to a mighty 9.

What does all this tell us? That the region's Creative Industries didn't shout loud enough during the consultation period? Maybe; or that this stuff matters less than we think (the North West's RES, for example, pays equally scant attention to the Creative Industries).

It's all in the delivery of course - the strategy comes into effect from April 2008.

Live Music Forum Findings and Recommendations - The Digested Read

Ladies and Gentleman for tonight's preformance we’ve been analysing the effect of the 2003 Licensing Act on the UK’s Live Music scene. It's taken us over three years to do it and we can tell you right here and now that....

IT HAS MADE ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE TO THE LIVE MUSIC SCENE WHATSOEVER

Thank you very much and goodnight.

Oh hang on, we're not quite done yet. We actually made a total of 28 recommendations to government and got some corking case studies along the way. Here's our setlist for tonight:

1. Sorry Blame it on Me
   The government promised an 'explosion' in live music on the back of this act. That was never going to happen but at least it hasn't been the death of live as many predicted.
   
   
2. Music for Airports
   'Incidental' music doesn't require a licence but unfortunately the act fails to define what qualifies as 'incidental'. The test for incidental ("does the volume of the music disrupt or predominate over other activities?") is a bit of a nonsense but at least if you're a carol singer then you should be okay.
   
   
3. Paranoid
   Some councils play really dirty, rejecting just about every request that comes their way. We so want to name names but we can't. There aren't many of them but that doesn't help if you happen to live in their borough.
   
   
4. Just Say No
   Everything seems a bit too geared to objecting to a live music licence application. Nobody seems to realise you can speak in favour of an application as well as against it.
   
   
5. Cum on Feel the Noize
   Councils, please stop and think about it before granting permission to build new residential property next to entertainment areas. No really, just stop and think for a minute - you're only creating extra hassle for yourself. In fact, just act on the guidance you already have.
   
   
6. Atmosphere
   Okay so we've stopped crying into our real ales pots about the old two-in-a-bar rule but common sense suggests making non-amplified music exempt from needing to be licensed.
   
   
7. Teenage Kicks
   The kids have gotta rehearse man, they're the future of live music and it keeps them off the streets. We set up a free rehearsal space in Wrexham and they came in their droves. Every town should have one.
   

This is our last ever gig as the lead singer is going solo but we'd just like to bow out with one final number:

8. Three is the Magic Number
   Three is the number of other really useful bits of research that tell us (or will tell us) way more about live music and its economic impact than we've ever known before:
   
   Baseline study of the existing live music scene in England and Wales.
   Licensing Act 2003: the experience of smaller establishments in applying for live music authorisation.
   The 2007 Live Music Survey.

The digested read, digested: For Those About to Rock - We Salute You!

By way of an aside...

Along with a colleague I have to give a presentation on 'Media Futures' next week to a room full of strategy types, government media strategy types at that. I'm desperate to avoid any half-soaked futurology so what are the words or phrases I MUST avoid in my presentation. I for one will be avoiding saying the word 'convergence', that's so circa 2001 isn't it?

If you list it, I'll avoid saying it.....

The Birmingham City Centre Masterplan: The Visioning Study - The Digested Read

The digested read, digested: Birmingham, If you make it here, you can make it anywhere. Now go buy a t-shirt.

Staying ahead: the economic performance of the UK’s creative industries - The Digested Read

You were expecting something else weren't you? Not red but green? Well, you'll have to wait as there's a new boy in the top job and we're not really sure how this is all going to pan out.

I'm Will Hutton and the Creative Industries drive me bonkers. I've been asked by the government to distract you from the lack of progress on policy by regurgitating some three year old statistics and putting it in a report that's so long I guarantee you'll never be bothered to get to the end of it. It's got lots of tables in it and tons of stats and every now and again I say something really insightful. And before we go any further I've been asked to point out how great Doctor Who is.

Anyway, first thing to say is that we are really proud of our stats, they're big and fat and meaty. Take this one for a start:

Stat one: The Creative Indutries are as valuable as the Financial Sector. That's 7.3% of GVA.

LIke it? Go on have another:

Stat Two: We employ 1.8 million lovies.

You man enough to take another one? 'Ave some of this:

Stat Three: We're growing faster than the economy as a whole

Hang on, that last one is kind of true but if you look closely you'll find that growth in the creative industries is like a rollercoaster, sorry I mean it's cyclical. Actually it's pro-cyclical. When the economy dips we dip big-time and when it grows we grow big, big-time.

And that's about it really. What? You want to know what's in the other 277 pages? What happened to the endless consultation on a range of topics we did with seemingly the entire UK creative sector? Well don't worry, we've listened to your concerns and put them in pride of place in an appendix at the back. Actually, that section at the back is worth a read as it concerns my favourite subject:

Why measuring the Creative Industries is really, really difficult:

1. They don't follow standard industry employment classifications. For example, the DCMS doesn't give an official firgure for the Video and Computer Games sector and can't do until a new code comes into force in 2009.
2. Although we've got a catergory for 'design' the government don't actually have an accurate way to count it. Instead, like in many other areas, we rely on third party figures. In this instance they come from the ‘Design Industry Valuation Survey’ but they're not comparable with the way we collect data for other sectors and we don't trust them as far as we can throw them.
3. And if you work in 'multimedia' or 'interactive design' or anything remotely web-based then you might be tucked away under publishing or software services or might even be part of advertising.

Overall though everything is okay. Just look at our glossy case studies, they prove it. The Rolling Stones, Kylie at the V&A, kiddies watching flims - it's all marvellous. No really, I may be a bit grumpy about all this but the creative industries are important and we ignore them at our peril. To be serious for a moment, it's now the job of government to learn how to count, to give clear guidance on fundemental issues like copyright and above all shift from a culture of subsidy and grants for the creative industries to one of investment and growth.

The Digested Read, digested: The Long and Winding Road

Creating Entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship education for the creative industries - The Digested Read

SCENE ONE:

INT. UPSTAIRS IN A FASHIONABLY DISTRESSED WAREHOUSE
Five shadowy figures are seated against a window. To their right are small tables piled high with cash. NESTA and ADM-HEA enter via the staircase stage left.

NESTA:
Hello, I'm not quite a quango

ADM-HEA:
And I'm not quite a university

NESTA:
Today we'd like to pitch to you on behalf of all the Art, Design and Media students in the UK. We're asking for significant investment on their behalf as they're all a lot better at this entrepreneurship malarky than they get credit for. What's more, people like you and your other sharp-suited friends are giving enterprise a bad name.

ADM-HEA:
Exactly, we're a sensitive bunch and you lot are a bit scary. Hang on, I feel a drawing coming on. Good isn't it. That's exactly the kind of thing we excel at making money at - drawing.

NESTA:
And painting, and filming things, and taking photographs, and erm, designing stuff. In fact being entrepreneurial comes naturally to us creatives as it's in the way we're taught. You see we learn by doing, sometimes we might read a fancy book or two but for the most part we just get on with it and do it.

ADM-HEA:
All we're proposing is that a few things change in order for us to do justice to the latent potential in our student population. Firstly, stop measuring and watching us - it's irritating and counter-productive. Also, stop arguing, it does my head in.

NESTA:
The main point though is not to go mentioning entrepreneurship in passing at the end of a lesson. Students really do need separate lessons in 'how to overcharge for mediocre design' and 'how to never earn enough to have to pay back your student loan.'

ADM-HEA:
In drawing our pitch to a close we'd like to add that in case you forgot, the Creative Industries is just about the fastest growing industry we've got in this country. We'll grow the investment you give us today quicker than you can say Rachel Elnaugh.

Scottish Dragon leans forward in his seat.

DRAGON:
I started with one ice-cream van and now I run a few gyms so I know what I'm talking about - this could be big, we're in.

The Digested read, digested: Art & Design, you're hired!

West Midlands Economic Strategy Draft - The Digested Read

Now pay attention - we'll be asking questions later. In fact we'll be asking questions as we go along but they all generally ask the same thing: "what do you think of this bit? Any good? Want to help?" We're trying to influence £120 Billion here so hopefully you can be bothered to respond to this and you've got until July 31st 2007 to do it.

We're Advantage West Midlands and we kick ass. What we say influences pretty much everything that happens in the West Midlands economy. Okay, so of that £120 Billion we can only directly influence £2.24 Billion, partially influence £23 Billion and the rest we haven't got a hope in hell of influencing. But don't stop reading - because we matter and what we have to say is very scary indeed.

1. For the most part everyone else is better than us. We're below average in Skills, in Innovation, in Business Productivity, in Educational Attainment and Birmingham isn't pulling its weight. Not that we're the worst overall but it ain't good. At least we've got Solihull though - they're the most productive people in the region (and we're really obsessed with productivity).



2. Yes we know manufacturing is on the decline but we're going to talk about it a lot more (24 mentions) than those new fangled creative industries (6 mentions). Let's not get bogged down in bickering though as all we need are more entrepreneurs exploiting our knowledge assets. No we're not sure what that means either but we educate lots of graduates and most of them bugger off after their degree. Please stay, please.... Generally though, as long as you're not killing the planet you're fine by us (carbon: 53 mentions).



3. Birmingham - we need you but you gotta sort your shit out. Without you we're nothing. We were a bit shy about saying it before but we now realise that noone really knows where Uttoxeter is, or even cares. We're a big region and you're our clogged but still beating cultural heart. If we get the world to believe in you then they'll believe we're the world class region our vision says we are.



4. Our vision: now we used to think we could be a world-beater at making everybody wealthy but we were a bit hasty and we now we just want to be "succesful" at making people wealthy since the stats show we've not been particularly succesful at it so far (although don't forget we only influence about a fifth of total spend in the region - it's not all our fault). But if we can pull it off you too could be drinking cappucino by the canal like our friends on the cover. Those canals are in Birmingham by the way - our beating cultural heart, did I mention that already? (59 times).

There's more of course but it involves lots of acronyms, and summaries of strategies I bet you never knew existed from a series of organisations you never knew you needed. Once we've read your responses and we're back from our summer holidays we'll be reprinting this report without the word 'draft' in it and with a binding that will last a lot longer than the current one as we won't be consulting with you again until 2011.

The digested read, digested: Working from the middle outwards; slowly.