Creative Industries Sector Plan: A welcome step, but important gaps remain
The UK’s new Creative Industries Sector Plan shows promise, but its success will hinge on concrete actions and genuine collaboration with creators moving forward.
The release of the Creative Industries Sector Plan, as part of the UK’s Industrial Strategy, is a welcome development for our sector. The plan recognises the creative industries as a major driver of economic growth, with CreaTech highlighted as an area for expansion. Even so, the plan feels more like a broad outline than a practical roadmap for real and lasting progress.
Feedback from the creative community, including the Creators’ Rights Alliance, has already drawn attention to the plan’s limited scope. The creative sector is a complex ecosystem, with illustrators, designers, writers, performers and many others together underpinning the UK’s reputation for creativity. Yet there is a narrow focus on growth in creative tech, and not enough detail on support for less high-profile disciplines. This lack of detail is a genuine concern and needs urgent attention.
One key area that requires further clarification is the proposed Creative Content Exchange (CCE), which seems to have appeared out of the blue, with no consultation with members of the creative sector. There is very little information about what the CCE will actually provide, how it will work, or how it will benefit working creators. There is an underlying concern that, if not managed carefully, the existence of the CCE could even be used by big tech companies to dampen the emerging licensing market for AI training content. For the Exchange to make a real difference, it must be shaped by those it is intended to support, with a clear focus on fair payment and the protection of rights.
The introduction of a Freelance Champion is a positive step, showing some awareness of the day-to-day realities faced by the majority of creative workers. But the real test will be in the practicalities, and in whether there is a genuine willingness to work with organisations that represent freelancers.
Overall, the ambitions in the plan are encouraging, but the creative sector needs more than headline commitments.
We urge the government to work closely with creators to understand the complexity of the sector and provide real support for those working within it.
See here for the full Creative Industries Sector Plan
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