Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Sharp of Guildford (Liberal Democrat). It was answered by Lord Davies of Oldham (Labour) on Thursday, 3 December 2009.

Cultural and Creative Arts

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the contribution the cultural and creative arts make to gross domestic product; and what proposals they have to promote their further growth and development.

Answer: My Lords, the creative industries contributed 6.4 per cent of the UK’s gross value added in 2006. There are 1.9 million people in creative jobs, both in the creative sector itself and in creative roles in other sectors. They are identified as a key industry sector in several government initiatives such as BIS’s New Industry, New Jobs and the DWP’s Future Jobs Fund. These are additional to the Creative Britain strategy, launched in February 2008.

Secondary information