On the 28th January 2016 the Lords held a debate on Adult Education and the Skills Needed in the UK Economy. I called for action on skills in the Creative and Tech Industries.
The challenge is that the vast majority of those businesses are small. Freelancing, too, constitutes 30% of the sector overall. There is a shortage not only of digital and software skills but craft and technical skills as well. In the tech sector, it is clear that we need 1 million tech jobs to be filled by 2020 to keep up with demand. There are also concerns about the quality of business skills in the creative sector, too.
There are key questions about how the new apprenticeship levy will operate. . Will contributions from the creative industries be invested for the benefit of those industries? Will government investment continue alongside the levy? Will there be transparency in how contributions are invested? Will there be a joined-up, UK-wide approach in line with an industrial strategy for the creative industries? Will businesses be able to set some of their internal costs incurred in developing standards and administration against the levy through an allowable expense system?
Achieving diversity is also a major challenge for the industry. Access to career pathways is obscure for those without connections. Unpaid internships are all too common. Interns can be useful, but they must be paid. Overall in the creative media, women, BAME people and the disabled are badly underrepresented. We need to attract, develop and nurture their skills to the maximum to identify and develop them faster. Mentoring, as NESTA has identified, is crucial
We particularly need to take action to encourage more women into the tech industry, where women hold only 17% of the jobs. We must do more at the entry level; the process must start at school. In the creative sector, PSBs and the independent sector need to show leadership in efforts to increase diversity and social mobility.
I welcome changes to the national curriculum so that it now includes coding and computer science but is disappointing that the Government seem so intent on a STEM rather than a STEAM agenda in our schools. The truth is that we need students going into the creative industries to be multidisciplinary
There are many other issues on skills in the creative industries: visas for international entrants where skills are at a shortage; the importance of clusters; the relationship between universities; and in particular the AHRC knowledge exchange hubs in London and the nations and regions, such as the Creative Exchange and Creativeworks. What support are the Government giving to those hubs? What action are they taking to ensure that the two skills councils work ever closer together and merge into a powerful and effective body to make sure that we plan and make the right strategies for the creative industries.
