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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring that a minimum number of (a) local and (b) regional freelance professionals are hired by (i) TV and (ii) film companies when filming is taking place in their area.

The Department has not made any assessment of the potential merits of the particular suggestion of per-production employment quotas. However, our public service broadcasters are already subject to regional production quotas set by the regulator Ofcom. One of the criteria through which public service broadcasters can meet their quotas is by ensuring at least 50% of the off-screen production talent (by cost) working on a given production is based outside of London. This ensures that creative job opportunities continue to be available to freelance professionals building their careers in the nations and regions of the UK.

We are also incentivising television and film production in every region through our tax reliefs and support for studios, including the £25 million investment for Crown Works Studios in Sunderland via the North East Combined Mayoral Authority.