Culture secretary pledges to ‘put arts, sports and music back at the heart of our schools and communities’
The government has started a review of the cirruculum to ensure creative subjects are part of education, Lisa Nandy said.
Speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, the culture secretary criticised the previous Conservative administration for not supporting arts and culture, and said the new government will “reignite the imagination of the next generation because a complete education is a creative education”.
With education secretary Bridget Phillipson, she said she has launched “a review of the curriculum to put arts, sports and music back at the heart of our schools and communities where it belongs”.
The government will also, Nandy said, launch a review of Arts Council England to “ensure arts for everyone, everywhere because we will never accept that culture is just for the privileged few, to be hoarded in a few corners of the country, and we will never accept there is a trade off between excellence and access”.
Other focuses outlined by the culture secretary included “making the TV industry far more representative of the country”, working with mayors and councils to grow creative sectors such as tourism, film, and gaming, and shortly launching the BBC charter review “to ensure the BBC survives and thrives well into the latter half of this century”.
In his conference speech, Keir Starmer also referenced creativity, saying:
“Everyone deserves the chance to be touched by art. Everyone deserves access to moments that light up their lives.
“And every child deserves the chance to study the creative subjects that widen their horizons, provide skills employers do value, and prepares them for the future, the jobs and the world that they will inherit.”
The creative industries were also discussed in other parts of the conference, including in a pavilion run by Creative UK.
One panel focused on improving working class access to the creative industries, following research released earlier this year which found that in film, TV, video, radio and photography just 8.4% of people identify as being from a working-class background.
On the panel was Line of Duty actress Vicky McClure who said:
“If it wasn’t for the likes of Jed Mercurio [Line of Duty writer] and Shane Meadows [This Is England writer], working class lads from Birmingham and Uttoxeter, I wouldn’t be here.”
The panel discussed the need for funding to be targeted at underrepresented groups wanting to enter the creative industries. Watch a recording of the event here.
A key focus at Bristol Creative Industries is boosting workforce diversity in creative businesses and helping to grow the talent pipeline for our members.
As well as our groundbreaking Bristol Creative Industries Internship Programme with social enterprise Babbasa and Bristol-based agencies, we provide opportunities for members and have committed to an annual programme of round tables with key post 16 education providers in the region including colleges, academies and universities.
Our aim is to promote creative careers to staff and career advisers, drive applications to our internship programme and explore how we can promote the creative industries to students already studying.
By joining the Bristol Creative Industries Talent Programme as a partner, you’ll help to fund all of our activities that support underrepresented groups entering the creative industries. Your support is vital to ensure we have a healthy and diverse talent pipeline.
For more details, contact Alli Nicholas, BCI membership and operations manager, at [email protected], or Lis Anderson, BCI co-chair, at [email protected]
Bristol Creative Industries is the membership network that supports the region's creative sector to learn, grow and connect, driven by the common belief that we can achieve more collectively than alone.
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