Queen’s Speech

Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury Excerpts

Monday 13th May 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury]

My Lords, like the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, I should really be taking part in tomorrow’s debate, in my case concentrating on culture and education. Today, I will talk about the creative industries, so there is quite a nice overlap. However, perhaps I may start by offering my congratulations to the noble Baroness, Lady Lane-Fox, who I know a little. She made the most fantastic maiden speech. Her father, the distinguished historian, was sitting next to me and said that he was far more nervous than she was, and I suspect that that was probably true. Perhaps he will give the noble Baroness hints for her speeches on horticultural and historical matters.

I will concentrate on the creative industries and the contribution they make to our economy, our shared identity as communities and as a nation, and our reputation in the world. Matthew Parris has referred to the culture of a country as its heartbeat. It is a fitting image, as considerable economic benefits flow into the body politic from cultural activities. The UK’s creative industries are a significant contributor to our economy and can, if properly nurtured, play a key role in the nation’s financial recovery and be part of the solution to the problem of our young people facing unemployment, to which the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Birmingham referred. They are a result of innovation, ideas, imagination and spontaneity, inspired by the rich tapestry of British arts and culture. As a country, we have always been blessed with a wealth of creative talents which have shaped and illuminated our history and national identity.

We have a global reputation for creativity and innovation, even more so since last year’s Cultural Olympiad. Who can forget that opening ceremony? It was a beautiful and brilliant spectacular; complex and humorous. In celebrating the entity that is the United Kingdom, it was a showcase for our great creative industries. We saw our pre-eminent conductor, Sir Simon Rattle, performing with Mr Bean. There was James Bond, first the product of a writer, Ian Fleming, and then of film-makers, actors, special-effects creators, costume and set designers, and those who make the costumes and sets. It celebrated our children’s literature, music, television and art, and how art and design can come together in such a wonderful creation as Thomas Heatherwick’s “The Cauldron”. And centre stage of course—literally—was Tim Berners-Lee, British creator of the world wide web. The ceremony was shot through with our creative accomplishments, and was a huge one in its very self.

Aware as I am that this is a debate partly about the economy, I have some statistics. The UK’s creative industries are worth more than £36 billion a year, generating about £70,000 every minute for the UK economy. Employment in the sector has grown at double the rate of the economy as a whole. At least £856 million per annum of spending by tourists who visit here can be attributed directly to arts and culture. The economic contribution of the arts and cultural sector has grown since 2008, despite the UK economy as a whole remaining below its output level before the global financial crisis. The UK has the largest cultural economy in the world as a proportion of GDP. That is all according to a report brought out by the Arts Council last week. That last point is crucial, because in today’s global economy, where capital and labour are so mobile and goods and services can be produced almost anywhere, it is the power of ideas and innovation, and of creativity and design adding value, that will bring growth, economic success and prosperity. The world’s creative industries make up around 7% of global GDP and are rightly being recognised as crucial to economic success. While ours are a driver for economic growth in the UK, they are also helping our country compete effectively on the world stage.

I am lucky enough to be the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Mexico. On a recent trip, I was impressed by the opportunities that this one country potentially offers the UK in terms of trade and by the reputation that goes before us there in the area of the creative industries. Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico, was designated last year by the new Government as a digital creative city. Developing that is a priority for the Government and for the governor of that area. It will focus on attracting technology companies that produce video games, movies, multimedia and mobile applications—all areas in which we excel—and offers a clear opportunity to achieve our Government’s target of doubling bilateral trade with Mexico by 2015.

Then there is the contribution that creative industries make to the vitality of our own society. Here, like my noble friend Lord Razzall, I will quote John Maynard Keynes, although in my case it will be with his Arts Council hat on. He said that government must recognise,

“the support and encouragement of the civilising arts of life as part of their duty”.

An area of great concern is the cuts being inflicted at local government level on arts and culture, despite LGA and Arts Council research that shows the benefits council investment in these areas brings—revitalising local economies and regenerating neighbourhoods that have seen traditional industries decline. Sheffield is an old example of this: an economy that was based on the manufacturing of steel, cutlery, engineering and tool-making. Its city council was the first to recognise that investing in cultural industries was an alternative as a source of employment creation and urban regeneration. It discovered that putting money into culture became investment rather than simply subsidy.

As I mentioned at the start of this speech, I sit on the board of the Lowry in Salford. The idea behind it was to build a major arts complex as a trigger for the regeneration of the area. In 1996, £64 million of National Lottery money was allocated. Central to the Lowry’s ethos is interaction with the local population through a community and education programme. An example is the “Walkabout” project, in which a member of the Lowry team and a range of artists spend 14 months within a specified community—recently the Yemeni and Orthodox Jewish communities. The primary aim is to help them turn their own ideas into creative projects that articulate local issues. A recent report showed that 71% of, I think, the 2,340 people involved in it said that it helped them develop skills which would be useful in future jobs while 81% said participation made them feel more part of their local community. The establishment of the Lowry has been a resounding success in encouraging social cohesion but also as a catalyst for the regeneration of the local economy. The BBC’s decision to relocate some of its key departments to Salford Quays and the subsequent development of MediaCity are clear evidence of this. They brought with them employment, traineeships and new floor space for business and residential property.

In conclusion, the creative industries punch above their weight, providing a significant return on what government invests. The UK is fortunate to have a powerful creative industries sector, but we must maintain it. This creative economy needs creative innovators and employees—we must continue to create the creators. Interestingly, this is an area where we do not have a jobs problem but a skills problem, so it is excellent that the coalition Government have listened to the industry and included computer science in the science strand of the EBacc; and excellent that, last October, the Secretary of State for Education announced bursaries of £20,000 for 50 top graduates to train as computer science teachers.

However, the creative economy needs people who are not just skilled in computer science but also art and other creative subjects. My noble friend Lady Hanham will not have heard this but many other noble Lords have heard me ask about Darren Henley’s review into cultural education, which was published 18 months ago and greeted with great enthusiasm by the Secretary of State for Education. We were told that a national plan for cultural education would follow immediately. When I asked last autumn, I was told we would be getting it this year; when I asked at the beginning of this year, I was told it would be in the spring. We may or may not have had a spring but we certainly have not had a national plan for cultural education, so I am asking again when this might happen. We should listen to such successful and highly respected individuals as Sir James Dyson and Sir John Sorrell, who argue that we should invest more in creative education and design.

The other area in which the creative industries struggle is in getting access to finance. It is a two-way problem. The banks and the regional development funds do not understand the creative industries and the creative industries are not aware of the various support schemes that exist. I commend the coalition Government on setting up the Creative Industries Council, the remit of which includes addressing this problem. But I draw to the attention of my noble friend the Minister the CIC’s Access to Finance Working Group Report, which says:

“In order to grasp the opportunity, investors must learn to understand creative innovators, and creative innovators must learn to make themselves investor-ready … The challenge for public policy is to address the shortage of risk capital in creative content companies and the dire consequences if ignored”.

The creative industries are worth more than £36 billion a year and employ 1.5 million people in the UK. With the right support, they have the potential to bring even more benefits to our communities and our economy.