MPs voice Brexit creativity concerns
M
embers of the UK House of
Commons Digital, Culture, Media
and Sport Committee have said that
maintaining access to talent, UK production tax
credits, and getting clarity around regulatory
equivalence with the EU are vital to resolving
concerns about Brexit.
The Committee’s report, The potential
impact of Brexit on the creative industries,
tourism and the digital single market,
examines the potential impact of changes to
three key areas: the workforce, funding and the
regulatory environment.
In producing the report, the Committee has
sought to identify areas of concern that need
to be addressed as part of the Brexit process.
The working assumption of the Committee
in making its recommendations to the
Government has been that the UK will leave the
EU at the end of March 2018, and will not seek
to maintain its membership of the European
Single Market, beyond any agreed transitional
period following Brexit. “Whilst this is still the
subject of debate, it is the scenario that we have
to plan for,” says the Committee.
“The UK is a global leader in the creative
and digital technology sectors, including
telecommunications, and our tourism
industry is also one of the largest and most
innovative in the world,” noted chair of the
DCMS Committee, Damian Collins MP.
“Our creativity, favourable production tax
credits, and the access to talent, all underpin
our success in these areas. The challenge of
Brexit is to maintain these advantages in a
new regulatory environment, and to remove
uncertainty for businesses and organisations,
in particular those that work from the UK, with
employees, suppliers and customers across
Europe.”
“An honest assessment of likely outcomes
of the Brexit negotiations—whether regarding
regulatory equivalence or divergence, the
UK: 95% ‘superfast
broadband’ coverage
The UK Government
is to extend ‘superfast
broadband’ to 95% of the
UK by the end of 2017,
Digital, Culture, Media and
Sport secretary of state Matt
Hancock has revealed.
Figures from
www.thinkbroadband.com
have confirmed that more
than 19 out of 20 UK homes
and businesses now have
the opportunity to upgrade
their Internet connections
to superfast speeds of 24
Mbps or faster - double what
workforce or the effects of losing direct EU
funding—is needed from the Government.”
“London—Europe’s most visited city—is
likely to be sufficiently well-established to
withstand challenges from other potential
European creative hubs, although other major
European cities—including Berlin, Paris,
Amsterdam, Barcelona and Dublin—do have
ambitions of their own, which should not be
under-estimated. It is essential that we get
clarity of proposed revised immigration rules
and reliable data about possible skills gaps.”
“British institutions are already missing out
on funding. The Government should publish
a map of all EU funding streams that support
tourism and creative projects. Brexit presents
challenges for all these industries because of
the uncertain nature of the future regulatory
environment. The Government should set
out as a matter of urgency those areas where
it believes that Brexit offers an opportunity
for beneficial regulatory reforms, and how it
intends to capitalise on any such opportunities.
It should also set out where it believes that
maintaining equivalence would be the most
favourable outcome, for the industries and
consumers alike,” he concluded.
Among the areas of potential challenge as a
result of Brexit, the report identifies:
Workforce
• The overwhelming message from businesses
and organisations across the creative
industries and tourism sectors was to
Ofcom say
is required
by a typical
family
home.
The £1.7
billion
(€1.9bn)
Government
rollout to areas deemed
‘not commercially viable’ by
industry has so far reached
more than 4.5 million
UK premises that would
otherwise have been left in
the connectivity slow lane, the
majority of which are in rural
areas. In addition to the huge
benefits to our day-to-day
retain the access to the talent they need
from outside the UK, particularly as a large
percentage of the international workforce
supporting them is made up of EU nationals.
• There is a need for reliable data now about
the workforce and possible skills gaps, should
this access to talent not be maintained.
• Clarity of proposed revised immigration
rules and processes is essential to businesses
in the creative industries to allow them time to
prepare for any new Brexit environment.
Funding
• A Government mapping exercise setting
out precise streams of existing, direct
European funding for creative and cultural
organisations, and an overview of future
funding, should be published in order to
assuage current uncertainty over the nature
of long-term funding.
Regulatory environment
• In the telecommunications sector particular
uncertainty exists around possible price hikes
for UK mobile phone customers using mobile
data in the EU post Brexit. The Government
must be open and honest about the latest
predictions regarding data roaming charges.
• A Government action plan describing how
UK policy development on data protection
will take place after Brexit is now a priority.
• The Government must set out its intentions
for co-operation with our European
neighbours in respect to copyright protection,
including enforcement actions.
• To address profound industry uncertainty
the Government must as an urgent priority
state its negotiating intentions with respect
to the Country of Origin rules framework
and set out its contingency plan, should the
rules cease to apply after Brexit. In addition,
the Government should make clear whether
the audio-visual sector will form part of the
formal trading negotiations with the EU.
lives that
superfast
speeds
offer, this
closing of
the ‘digital
divide’
has also
delivered
a significant boost to local
economies - creating around
50,000 new local jobs and
generating an additional £8.9
billion in turnover in the areas
covered by the Government
rollout between 2013 and
2016.
“Over the last five years,
the Government’s rollout
of superfast broadband has
made superfast speeds a
reality for more than 4.5
million homes and businesses
who would otherwise have
missed out,” claimed Hancock.
“We’ve delivered on our
commitment to reach 95 per
cent of homes and businesses
in the UK, but there’s still
more to do in our work
building a Britain that’s fit
for the future. We’re reaching
thousands more premises
every single week, and the
next commitment is to making
affordable, reliable, high
speed broadband a legal right
to everyone by 2020.”
EUROMEDIA 13