Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support young people from deprived backgrounds to progress in the creative industries.

We recognise that more needs to be done to ensure that the workforce of the Creative Industries better reflects the diversity of UK society. The need to broaden access was highlighted in the 2018 Creative Industries sector deal.

Amongst other measures, we are providing £2 million seed funding for an industry-led Creative Careers Programme over the next 4 years to improve the supply of talent and open up opportunities to a broader audience.

Additionally, the British Film Institute (BFI) leads on a number of initiatives to encourage people from all backgrounds to pursue careers in the screen sector, from the BFI diversity standards to the BFI Film Academy. We will also continue to work with industry through the joint government-industry Creative Industry Council to open up employment opportunities in the sector. The CIC have identified this issue as a priority, setting out a set of actions to improve diversity across the industry in its “Create Together” growth strategy.