Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy - The Digested Read
It's a list. To be precise this is version 1.0 of the list as this is a dynamic strategy that will change as the Creative Industries change. When we started all this you probably didn't think we'd end up with just a list did you? Remember all that consultation? Anyway, the 26 commitments we've come up with are a mix of new things, filler, things you already knew about or things that won't happen for ages.
Better than listing the commitments, let's look at some themes:
- Kids are great and way more talented than grown-ups.
But they don't get enough culture and are a bit fat. We're giving them an extra five hours of culture that will allow them to go the the theatre, do some creative writing or make films (although actually watching films won't be allowed). If you think your region can run a pilot for this then apply here. There's also a shed load of academies and centres of excellence on their way too to keep that production line of Brit talent moving. - The right jobs for the white people
How come, when there are two million jobs in the Creative Industries, do we always hear about too many people chasing too few jobs. And let's face it, if you want to work in the Creative Industries it's who you know, not what you know but if all you know are other white people then you've got a problem. We're putting a stop to this by creating clearer career pathways and 5,000 creative apprenticeships a year. We'll be directing more people to the diverse range of glamorous behind the scenes jobs in the Creative Industries such as, erm, administration, fixing computers and painting and decorating. - Money for Nothing
Every other sector gets its nose stuck into research and development producing world-beating new products and spending plenty of government cash along the way. Now it's the turn of the Creative Industries: £10m for R&D, £3m for Creative Innovators, a Knowledge Transfer Network, cash from the AHRC and then further research into whether it's all worth it. If you can't innovate after all that there's no hope for you. - Money for Something
Investment is everything. Companies should be growing and blossoming like sunflowers nurtured with a liberal dose of cash investments. The Arts Council should start to get its hands dirty here and we'll be making it act like a hard-nosed Dragon rather than a philanthropic old Uncle. We'll be installing some 'beacons' to point businesses to the right kind of advice and support (although only in the West Mids, South East, South West , North East & North West) and we'll set up task and finish groups (in the North West and South West) to examine if any of this creative economy stuff is actually making a difference. - Stop Stealing stuff
Intellectual Property matters, we have to stop people stealing it. The record industry is losing lots of money and generally doesn't know what to do. We plan to make the Internet Service Providers responsible and if they don't behave we'll introduce legislation to force them to stop all this wanton sharing of music and films. CoolRule Britannia
We really need to show the rest of the world that we do the creativity bit better than anyone else. That way we can charge more for it. We'll be staging a World conference on creative business at the same scale as Davos and the the Mayor of London can have all the support he wants for any other London-based creative festivals. We'll also support other regionally-based festivals and events, although right now we're struggling to think of any.
If you care enough to keep tabs on the growth of the creative industries and whether or not we get these many initiatives off the ground then keep an eye on the website. If you're only interested in the bottom line impact on the economy then you'll have to wait until Autumn 2010 for the 2008 Creative Industries statistical bulletin.
The digested read, digested: The time for talking is over, or just beginning, or both; who knows?
2 comments:
‘I'm sure you'll agree that although we've announced some regional initiatives here this strategy document is primarily about how important London is. We mention London on almost every page even though our diagram at the back indicates that the density of creative industries firms is just as great in other areas of the UK.’
Who are ‘we’ did you write this? Are you talking about the creative industries being ‘we’?
Do you work for DCMS? What do you do? You seem to have a lot of time on your hands.
How do you measure the real impact of such policy? How do you intend to take advantage of such measures in your industry position, what exactly is your industry position? Do you run a company? Have you ever run a company? I’m not really sure whether I need to have this ‘interpreted’ by someone who apparently isn’t ‘in’ business. Maybe if you worked in industry you could advise us? Otherwise it may come across as abstract and pontificating rubbish.
Do ‘we’ care enough to keep tabs on the growth? Well, for most of us ‘in’ industry we do keep tabs. We keep them because our overheads demand it. Our interest in ‘bottom line impact’ is a real one – not a subject of ‘interest’ and discussion but one of action and hard work.
‘Forging links with specialised providers and mentors…’
Who do you link with? How do you propose that you mentor those running businesses? When was the last time you asked them something and were willing to learn from them?
‘On the whole there's not an awful lot in here that we didn't already know about. This gives some initiatives a bit of a government rubber stamp I guess.’
Unfortunately guessing is what you do. Are you again affiliating yourself with some sort of industry base by using the ‘we’ …what is your line of work? What was your last years turnover? What economic growth have you brought to the region? …How much do they pay you to …
read?
"Who are ‘we’ did you write this? Are you talking about the creative industries being ‘we’?"
No, I'm writing in the voice of the report's author. That's the blog's 'gimmick'.
"Do you work for DCMS? What do you do? You seem to have a lot of time on your hands."
There's an about box on this blog which you can read. I don't work for DCMS. I read documents like this in order to keep abreast of government policy in this area (which is an element of my job). I use this blog to summarise them. I used to summarise them for myself by making notes but I use this space instead now.
"How do you measure the real impact of such policy?"
I guess impact is measured in growth and at the moment the creative industries is still growing at twice the rate of the economy as a whole. The question might be whether or not previous policy has made an impact or if this sector would have grown at this rate anyway.
"How do you intend to take advantage of such measures in your industry position, what exactly is your industry position?"
I work for a university through which we've helped lever in government funds to support creative industry companies in the West Midlands.
"Do you run a company? Have you ever run a company?"
No I don't run a company but worked as a freelance photographer and in design for print for a few years in the 1990s. Have worked in linking higher education to industry since 2003 in parallel to teaching media practice and theory.
I was going to run through the rest of your questions but there's simply too many of them for me to spend time on them and I've covered the main points above. Generally, you don't seem too impressed by my blog which is fine by me. Just don't read it if it's not your thing.
Dave
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