Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Creative Industries: Highly Skilled Workers

Thursday 10 December 2020 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial Questions on 2020-12-10 focused on steps to retain highly skilled workers in the creative industries.
  • SSE Audio, an event industry supplier, employed 196 people with 75 made redundant; last year it paid 2.45 million to freelancers.
  • Research showed 55,000 job losses in music and performing arts in the last six months, impacting the creative industry's talent and diversity.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Bill Esterson Lab Sefton Central
Employment Culture, Media & Sport
Context

The question was prompted by concerns over the retention and support of high-skilled workers crucial to maintaining UK's leading position in the creative sector.

Question

What steps his Department is taking to retain highly skilled workers in the creative industries. SSE Audio employed 196 people in the supply chain of the events industry until March; 75 of those have already been made redundant. Last year it paid £2.45 million to freelancers as well. Its freelancers are among the excluded group who have had no financial support, the business did not qualify for the cultural recovery fund, 99% of which has gone to venues, not suppliers, and unless the furlough scheme is extended in January it will have to make the rest of its workforce redundant.

Answer from Caroline Dinenage

The hon. Gentleman is right to talk about all the amazing parts of the industry that support our creative and cultural venues up and down the country. Of course this Government have just put in an incredible amount of unprecedented business support right across every sector—over £100 billion for the furloughing scheme, the self-employed income support scheme, grants, loans, VAT deferrals—and for freelancers we know the best thing we can do is get our sectors back up and running. That is what the culture recovery fund is all about.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not address whether SEE Audio and its freelancers are essential to sector recovery or if they will receive support from future funds.

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Q2 Bill Esterson Lab Sefton Central
Culture, Media & Sport Business & Trade
Context

The question was prompted by concerns over the impact of job losses in SSE Audio, a company that employs many people in the supply chain of the events industry.

Question

SSE Audio employed 196 people in the supply chain of the events industry until March; 75 of those have already been made redundant. Last year it paid £2.45 million to freelancers as well. Its freelancers are among the excluded group who have had no financial support, the business did not qualify for the cultural recovery fund, 99% of which has gone to venues, not suppliers, and unless the furlough scheme is extended in January it will have to make the rest of its workforce redundant.

Answer from Caroline Dinenage

The hon. Gentleman is right to talk about all the amazing parts of the industry that support our creative and cultural venues up and down the country. Of course this Government have just put in an incredible amount of unprecedented business support right across every sector—over £100 billion for the furloughing scheme, the self-employed income support scheme, grants, loans, VAT deferrals—and for freelancers we know the best thing we can do is get our sectors back up and running. That is what the culture recovery fund is all about.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not address whether SEE Audio and its freelancers are essential to sector recovery or if they will receive support from future funds.

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Q3 Tracy Brabin Lab
Economy Culture, Media & Sport
Context

The question was prompted by research showing significant job losses in music and performing arts sectors, highlighting the need for a safety net to support event organisers.

Question

Today, research from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre has shown that in the last six months there have been 55,000 job losses in music and the performing and visual arts—all that talent, dedication and diversity of voices lost. Our creative workers are desperate to get back to doing what they do best, and we know the simplest way to get money to freelancers is to make shows, but to do that producers need a safety net. Germany has just announced an indemnity fund so event organisers can plan for the second half of 2021 without the financial risk posed by a potential covid outbreak. Industry predictions suggest a three-month indemnity here could get the sector back on its feet. I know that the Minister is receptive to this idea, so can she explain what is holding things up? Has the Chancellor again said no?

Answer from Caroline Dinenage

The hon. Member is absolutely right to highlight that our creative industries are a fantastic success story. They contribute more than £112 billion to our economy, more than the automotive, aerospace and life sciences sectors combined, so we do need to do everything we can to help them. The next stage of the cultural recovery fund will be announced shortly—that is another £258 million—and we are looking very carefully at the German insurance model. It has only been announced this week so the details have not been made clear. We have to be sure that it really is the only obstacle to things being able to reopen, but we very happy to have those conversations with the Treasury.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not address what specifically is holding up the indemnity fund implementation and did not confirm if Chancellor has said no.

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