Today, the King presented the new UK Government's legislative agenda as part of the State Opening of Parliament.
Download a summary of the provisions announced, and read on as Culture Commons Director, Trevor MacFarlane shares some initial thoughts on the announcement.
The new UK Government have committed to bringing forward 40 Bills in this parliament - a clear recognition of the scale of work required to get the UK back on track. And, the creative, cultural and heritage sectors stand to benefit from a range of measures.
Firstly, I hope we see the creative industries represented properly on the new Industrial Strategy Council that was confirmed today; our sectors are already growing at a much faster rate than others part of the economy and with the right support, could unlock growth in more parts of the country too.
But we cannot simply rely on 'business as usual' when it comes to the growth ambitions we have for our sectors - the trickledown economics of old has proven unable to meet the challenges of an overly centralised state.
We might be growing fast, but we certainly aren't growing equitably, and the value of our sectors are often not felt by the people working in them or those in communities with lower levels of creative, cultural and heritage infrastructures. Instead, we should use this moment of national reset to consider how we can plan for more sustainable growth that specifically reaches those areas who have, for too long, not been part of national policy consciousness.
Greater devolution could have a profound impact on the creative, cultural and heritage ecosystem in the UK which could, in turn, help deal with a range of geographical disparities that hold some communities back from reaping the benefits that our sectors can bring to places. But more devolution needs to come with commensurate support and funding mechanisms if it is to be more than an offloading of risk and responsibility to already under-funded local and combined authorities. We're looking forward to sharing the outcomes of our major open policy development programme on devolution and increased local decision making that we're working on with 30 national bodies across the UK later this year.
The Ministerial teams overseeing the New Deal for Working People must make sure that both employed and freelance workers in our sectors - 'gig economy' forerunners - are part of the policy design process. There is a clear opportunity to recalibrate the relationship our workforce has with the state after a decade of feeling frozen out and forgotten by previous governments. If we can implement a new social security system fit for the 21st century, we can begin dealing with the in-work precarity that grinds people down and instead open up pathways to meaningful careers in the arts, culture and creative sectors.
Of course, UK Government also needs to think about how any enhancements in this space will impact on cultural institutions receiving public investment.
I'd like to see, for example, early commitments to uplifting budget settlements to our arm's length bodies so that they can be passed on to grant recipients who can ensure the New Deal can be effectively implemented without adverse effects.
The Apprenticeship Levy has long been a frustration for firms across DCMS subsectors. It simply doesn't work for many practical reasons that have taken too long to be dealt with at the national level. Labour have opened up an opportunity here for us to influence the way that the new scheme will operate going forward. This is a wonderful moment to think about how young people, irrespective of their postcode, can get in and get on in the some of the most dynamic and future-proof sectors in the economy.
The new Skills England body announced today will surely also have to play a role in closing the severe skills gaps that opened during the COVID-19 pandemic and that continue to widen to this day. How this will all dovetail with more regionally based skills initiatives, such as the 'MBacc' in Greater Manchester, needs to be thought through very carefully indeed so as not to lead to a fragmented skills patchwork that leaves employers scratching their heads and young people feeling tethered to one place.
The 'reset' with our European neighbours is a deeply encouraging and long overdue commitment. The UK Government can now start working in earnest to get us into the Creative Europe programme as a third country in much the same way we saw the research community going for the EU's flagship scientific research scheme, Horizon. It wasn't mentioned explicitly today, but these negotiations need to be part of discussions on reciprocal waivers on visa and touring restrictions to ensure creative practitioners and artists from the UK and the EU can share their work and maintain our deep cultural ties.
On a personal note, I knew Martyn Hett from my college days and was very touched to see a Bill coming forward to help keep people safe in public spaces - including creative, cultural and heritage venues. His mother and wider family have campaigned hard in Martyn's name since his tragic passing and it's wonderful to see the law catching up with the realities of audience going.
Here at Culture Commons, we're looking forward to watching how the Bills moving through the UK Parliament play out in the coming years.
As ever, if you or your organisation is thinking about how all this new legislation might impact on you or your sector, or even if you'd like to be part of shaping their development, please get in touch with us at contact@culturecommons.uk
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