News from Caroline Russell: London’s creative industries under-supported and under-financed

London’s world-famous creative sector is reeling from both the impacts of the pandemic and the lack of a deal with the EU over freedom of movement or visa waivers for touring creative workers.

Caroline Russell AM asked Justine Simons, Deputy Mayor for Culture, at the London Assembly Plenary today to provide an update on what the Mayor is doing to support the creative sector, so London doesn’t lose the skills of these creative workers nor its leading reputation for arts and culture. [1]

Caroline Russell says:

The Deputy Mayor informed us that, so far the Mayor’s support for the creative sector has been just £2.3 million, which has supported some 700 individual and small businesses and helped 11,000 artists to hold on their studios. A further £1.6 million has been leveraged through six Creative Enterprise Zones to protect 1,000 jobs and 300 businesses.

This is a drop in the ocean for a sector in London that was worth £58 billion prior to the pandemic and provides over 600,000 jobs, that’s 11.9 per cent of all jobs in the capital, compared to 4.9 per cent in the rest of the UK.

I was also told that the Culture Secretary has yet to respond to the Mayor’s letter about the impact of the lack of freedom of movement or a visa waiver for creative workers. Ms Simons pointed out that tours are collapsing with, as an example, the National Theatre not mounting a European tour while both broadcast rights and Intellectual Property rights are unresolved. [2][3][4]

Caroline has been pushing for urgent action on this issue, raising it with the Mayor and through the EU Exit Working Group.[5][6]