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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the contribution of the creative sectors in (a) Birmingham, Edgbaston, (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands to the UK economy.

The creative industries sector is one of eight growth-driving sectors identified in the government’s Industrial Strategy. We will publish a Creative Industries Sector Plan to drive growth in the late spring. The creative industries can be found in clusters throughout the UK, with the Creative Policy and Evidence Centre noting 55 clusters making a strong contribution to the sector’s contribution of £124bn to the UK’s GVA.

In 2023, the West Midlands was one of the top three regions in terms of median annual earnings for the creative industries (£40,650). The West Midlands’ Creative Industries contributed £4 billion to the UK economy and there were 138,000 filled jobs in the sector in the region. This includes a strong presence in video games, film and television as well as in the wider culture and creative industries.

Government support for the sector has included £520,000 to the West Midlands region to provide creative industries specific business support and develop regional investor readiness through the Create Growth Programme. This is delivered in combination with the West Midlands Combined Authority, Creative UK, Create Central and Innovate UK with funding from DCMS. A further £425,000 will be provided by DCMS via the Integrated Settlement during the 2025/26 Financial Year.

In November at the Beyond Conference, we announced £6.74m to deliver the CreaTech Futures Creative Industries Cluster with funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. This will drive research and development, business innovation and skills within the creative industries ecosystem across the West Midlands. This will be led by Birmingham City University with Coventry University, the University of Birmingham, the University of Warwick and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Cluster will create a network of four complementary, interconnected R&D labs in immersive audio and video technologies, virtual production, applied AI for createch and gaming, esports, and animation.

At the Creative Industries Growth Moment in January, we announced additional funding, to be agreed as part of the Spending Review to six Mayoral Combined Authorities including the West Midlands Combined Authority to drive business growth.