Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department are taking steps to encourage British television productions to film in Northern Ireland.

With world-class facilities and access to a highly-skilled talent pool, Northern Ireland enjoys global recognition as an important production centre for film and television.

Northern Ireland Screen is the national screen agency for Northern Ireland. Funded by the Department for the Economy and the Department for Communities, Northern Ireland Screen’s production credits include the Academy Award nominated film Belfast.

The British Film Institute NETWORK works to support, develop and champion new and emerging filmmakers across the UK. The BFI will continue to delegate funding to Northern Ireland Screen to lead BFI NETWORK in Northern Ireland, with an award of £480,000 across the three years.

To support independent screen content following the pandemic, including film, to grow internationally the government launched the UK Global Screen Fund in April 2021. DCMS has committed a further £21 million to develop, distribute and promote independent UK screen content in international markets. All three strands of the UK Global Screen Fund offer support for Northern Irish companies and projects and several significant awards to Northern Ireland-based companies have been made to date.

DCMS has funded the British Film Commission (BFC) with £4.8 million over three years to support the growth of seven geographic production hubs across the UK nations. Through this, the BFC has provided ongoing support for Northern Ireland’s expanding studio infrastructure initiative, including design support and general guidance to four key studios: Belfast Harbour, Titanic, Loop and Silverwood.

The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have also all commissioned critically acclaimed television programmes set and produced in Northern Ireland. This includes Bloodlands, The Secret and Derry Girls.

At Spring Budget 2023, the government went further to support and boost the competitiveness of the TV industry across the UK, through the creative industry tax reliefs. The government announced that the film, high end TV, children’s TV and animation tax reliefs will be reformed to a single Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit, which will provide a greater benefit than the current reliefs.