TDC PR’s Post

Should we form a UK Creativity Party?   There’s pervasive distrust in politics going into the election. A movement centring on creativity could turn things around.*   Here are some highlights from our draft manifesto.   1. Boosting British Business 📈 Ideas are free. But building a business isn’t. Our apprenticeship scheme would partner aspiring entrepreneurs with industry leaders. It would also fund the cost of living for twelve months – subject to submittal of a sensible business plan.   2. National (Creative) Service ⚔   Rishi was nearly right. But rather than arming youngsters with assault rifles, we think arts equipment would be better. Anyone between the age of 17 and 21 not in creative employment will be drafted to join the National Creative Corps – a high-tech, modern force designed to deploy arts programmes globally. No Gen Z backlash for this one.   3. Education 📖 Our classrooms and schools are still modelled on factories. We would initiate a total overhaul of how education is delivered in the country. Youngsters would be taught the principles behind imagination, innovation and critical thinking. And there would be a specific focus on how to use AI as a tool (rather than succumb to it as a threat).   4. Urbanism 🌆   Initiate a mass pedestrianisation of urban areas. The automobile is no longer fit for purpose in cities. And countries that walk more live longer. Crucially: travelling on foot helps ideas to ruminate. This fact alone would serve the UK economy.   5. The Arts 🖼 You can’t have a UK Creativity Party and not have a robust plan for arts and culture. Citizens would be required to gather in town squares, community centres and public spaces every Friday for a whole afternoon of free life drawing classes. State-subsidised art supplies would be provided for every household.   What else should go into our plan for the future of Britain?   Join our movement. Follow me – Sir John Hegarty – for more. And subscribe to my weekly newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/eRYUdzVj   *And yes, this idea was sparked by the graffiti pictured. If anyone can identify its author, we have a chief of staff spot open.   #ukcreativityparty #creativity #art #businessofcreativity

It's interesting how many people commenting on this excellent and deeply worrying post are focusing on the part where funding for education in the arts and budgets is being slashed. That is obviously terrible for all the reasons stated, but, if it was just "Tories and capitalists think the arts are a waste of time and don't make money" then it would be simple enough to make the argument that they were wrong. But also, if there really was no money at all to be made out of art then art would still be made, and it might well be the most subversive, underground kind (exactly the kind that catalyses change). However, the expensive fee-paying schools supply whatever the rich customer requires. So it is clear from your figures that the high-earning and/or wealthy people who send their children to to these schools are well aware that the arts are where a significant proportion of the real power/money is, and will be in the future. The story is one of a landgrab of culture by a small, privileged elite, and that is a much, much worse prospect than the already very bad situation of an arts sector starved of cash and new talent.

The latest Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, State of the Nations Report shows the creative economy is at risk of falling into a looming skills shortage. The report – the fourth in the State of the Nations series – looks at student participation in creative further education (FE) across all four UK nations and shows that there is a severe drop in participation. Prepared by education specialists Work Advance for the AHRC-funded Creative PEC, the report brings together 31 data sets to provide the most comprehensive picture yet of the state of creative further education. Creative FE enrolments are declining in all parts of the UK, and at a faster rate than average across all subject disciplines. The report also indicates that there is a misalignment between the economic growth of the sector over the last decade and dramatic falls in student participation. This risks intensifying already chronic skills shortages in the creative industries. Read the report:

This is extremely well documented by the work of Mark Banks in the book "Creative Justice: cultural industries, work and inequality", which goes into great detail how the UK's cultural and creative sectors. A MUST READ! Priviledge is a great booster, specially in those early years: 👉 to have been privately tutored 👉to have the financial backing to avoid the part-time job that would drain you and make attaining the skills a longer process 👉to have the mental security that comes with that one 👉to have access to opportunities from those you know Full disclosure: that is a list of my own priviledge. And even then I feel that I haven't got as much of a leg upo in the "industry" as others. What happens when the lack of access and state support that Tom here describes intersects with the reality of artist-as-marketeer and the Attention Economy? We're seeing early career opportunities disappearing in the visual arts (at least from the US) as commissioners move towards AI generation as a solution to the problem of cheap image-generation. The ladder is being kicked out, just as a new generation of artists who, in my experience providing training for young creatives, are not being trained well enough for the paradigm of five years ago let alone the paradigm of five years into the future. #creativeindustries #creativeworkers

Something odd is happening in the UK's creative industries. 🌍 New research released by the PEC this week shows that the creative industries are an "export success story" which have continued to grow since 2010, accounting for 7.1% of all UK jobs. Great news, except... 🎨 The government has spent the last few years dismantling creative education in state schools, while pushing compulsory maths. 🎨 As a result of government cuts, many state school pupils no longer study art. 🎨 76% of arts teachers want to leave the profession. 🎨 Some local areas have seen their arts budgets reduced to zero. Nothing. No money. You don't need a maths degree to see this doesn't add up. But there's more... 🤔 Creative subjects are a major selling point for private schools. 🤔 Two thirds of employment growth in the creative industries between 2015-2020 was taken up by people from high income backgrounds. 🤔 Over half (52%) of people working in creative occupations in 2019 came from privileged backgrounds. 🤔 Almost half of all British nominees for the Mercury Prize, Oscars and BAFTAs over the last 10 years were privately educated, compared to just 6% of the population. What's really going on here? The creative industries shape everything we see, read and feel about ourselves as a society. For decades they've been a vehicle for social progress and given a voice to the ordinary people of Britain. If they continue to be closed off to all but a privileged few, we will never get that voice back. Our stories will be told to us, not by us. Culture will lose its power to inspire. This is why it's absolutely vital that creative businesses help to develop the next generation of state schooled talent by making Class and / or socio-economic background a diversity priority. There are some amazing organisations doing work in this space. Feel free to comment below or message us at Common People for reccs and guidance.

Creative Labour will be a win for everyone. For me, one of the most exciting things about this morning’s election results is the possibility that arts and culture might be taken seriously again by the government. Arts funding has collapsed under the Tory government, through structural decline, disinvestment and disinterest, characterised by devastating LEA and educational cuts. The creative industries are vital for realising our country’s potential but urgently need investment.; at a local level, many brilliant arts organisations have recently folded after losing Arts Council England investment. In 1997, New Labour set up a Task Force to define and measure the 'creative industries' for the first time. Creativity is a huge contributing factor in post-industrial regeneration, and ‘the economics of the imagination’ (John Howkins, 2001) generate around £126bn in gross value added to the economy. What's more, the sector employed 2.4 million people in 2022 (https://shorturl.at/Jd30n). Thangam Debbonaire knows first-hand how arts and culture works which bodes well (though she just lost her seat to Green, who are brilliant in Bristol). Here’s to Labour regaining the creative mantle for Britain and to optimism in the arts! #arts #politics #policy #culture #investment #creativity #uniofexeter #labour #creativeindustries #creative #economy #labour #university #highered #creativeuk

Your Chamber is raising the voice of business in Skills & Workforce 🧠 We are a proud supporter of the British Chambers of Commerce Manifesto, amplifying our local business voice to a national level. The Manifesto makes clear our asks of the next UK government in five key areas: Green Innovation, People & Work, Local Economy of the Future, Global Britain, and Digital Revolution. Plan Better for Skills Create a long-term plan to close the skills gap. Businesses and training providers should collaborate locally. Incentivize businesses to invest in skills via tax and an investment kitemark. Prepare Adults and Young People for Work Boost adult upskilling and retraining through apprenticeships and technical qualifications. Invest in comprehensive career education in schools for better life and work skills. Help People Access and Stay in Jobs Facilitate transitions from Universal Credit to work, improve access to childcare, and offer quality careers advice. Encourage fair workplaces with pay gap transparency and social value in procurement. Click here to see more details of the British Chamber of Commerce Manifesto: https://lnkd.in/g3PC8NV3 To have your voice heard, contact us at policy@northants-chamber.co.uk

"We have the opportunity to accelerate one of the UK’s high growth sectors through a renewed and ambitious approach to Creative Further Education” - Head of Policy Bernard Hay says as new Creative PEC research published today points to a looming creative economy skills shortage. As revealed in this Channel 4 News exclusive there has been a ‘severe’ drop in creative further education over the last decade suggesting a pipeline shortage for the UK’s growing creative economy - which is predicted to create 300,000 new jobs over the next five years.  As demand for skills and a diverse workforce grows this is not being met by growing participation in creative learning.    Download the new report: https://lnkd.in/eNuKdZ2S Read & watch the Channel 4 News exclusive:  https://lnkd.in/eN5EiQDA Read more from report authors Heather Carey and Lesley Giles, Co-Directors at Work Advance in today’s FE Week https://lnkd.in/exntgUev See The Stage Media Company Ltd for more on the decline in performing arts participation https://lnkd.in/eu63HuWK Final chance to register for online or in-person launch at The RSA (The royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce) at 12 noon Wednesday 17 July – all welcome. With industry guests Sara Whybrew from British Film Institute (BFI), Catherine Sezen at Association of Colleges, Paul Moore FutureScreens NI, Co-Directors of Work Advance, Lesley Giles and Heather Carey & Deputy Director of Creative PEC Lilli Geissendorfer. The Creative PEC is funded by the UK Research and Innovation via the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

In a recent blog for International Public Policy Observatory Lucie Stephens, our Head of Research, talks about challenges facing the early years sector and the need for boosted funding, improved workforce strategies and widening access to create a pathway forward as outlined in our manifesto. Read 'Early Education as Vital Social Infrastructure' here: https://lnkd.in/eJQ_Ew9i

🗣️ "The financial situation is definitely getting more acute, particularly across the mature markets of Australia, Canada, UK and US. Now, the less established markets are investing heavily in their universities and higher education. So, along with demographic changes and changes in student preference acting as push factors away from the big four, changes in domestic education offers are creating a pull factor." Georgia Moss, Education Strategy Lead, PwC UK (from a panel discussion at the ICEF Monitor Global Summit). 📉 As UK education funding declines alongside falling international enrolments, a panel moderated by ICEF Monitor’s Editor-in-Chief, Craig Riggs explored several solutions. Joined by Lil Bremermann-Richard (Oxford International Education Group), Georgia Moss (PwC UK), Roger Brindley (Acumen, Part of Sannam S4 Group), and Professor Judith Lamie (Swansea University), the panel offered practical advice on how institutions can stabilise finances amid shifting demand. #ICEF #ICEFMonitorGlobalSummit #InternationalEducation #StudyAbroad