Supporting creative industries

Creative industries are increasingly cited as one of the sectors likely to be a future source of jobs, innovation and productivity. Yet for local areas, faced with multiple calls for investment and tighter resource constraints, it can be difficult to know to what extent creative industries should be a priority for local investment.

Creative industries are also a significant part of services enabling improved performances by other sectors and tend to attract or retain higher level professional and technical staff to an area.

Additionally, access to finance for the sector is perceived as riskier than normal by banks and development capitalists due to dependence on individuals skills, lack of security and potential mobility as well as a frequent need for joint ventures to meet market or client needs.

To take an informed decision about whether to invest, local authorities need to know the answers to a range of questions, including:

• What outcomes might investment in creative industries deliver?

• Will the characteristics of their local economy make it more or less likely that investment will deliver these outcomes?

• Who are the partners with whom local authorities could work?

• What are the factors that have helped investment in creative industries be more or less successful in other local areas?

• What are the types of investment that will deliver the desired results?

• What other resources will help local authorities decide whether and how to invest in creative industries?

• How do or should local authorities cultural activities interact with commercial creative industries?

To respond to this need, the Work Foundation, supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Local Government Association (LGA), has developed full and summary guides to complement the online resource.

Investing in creative industries: guide for local authorities IDeA 2009