Our creative industries are booming. New statistics from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport show that employment in the sector has grown three times faster than the national average in the past seven years.
But these figures reveal more, too. In the past year, the number of women didn’t grow and while the overall proportion of BAME employees was up, there was an astonishing decline in key areas. An 18.3% decline in advertising, 13% in design, and 10.2% in film and TV.
Clearly we still have much to do in boosting inclusivity, which is why, alongside colleagues including Floella Benjamin and Tracy Brabin MP, we’ve set up the all-party parliamentary group for creative diversity – a long-overdue platform to establish effective practices for the creative sector in its approach to diverse talent which will also provide recommendations for government.
What needs to change? It begins with education. A record industry survey found that state schools have seen a 21% decrease in music provision in the past five years, compared with a 7% increase in independent schools. This creates the first hurdle: a limited pool of creative talent to dip into. For a diverse and skilled pipeline we have to put creativity at the heart of the curriculum across all schools. When it comes to the world of work, inequality of access and opportunities must also be addressed. Entry schemes can be part of the answer, but they must be strengthened, broadened and funded sufficiently to stand the test of time.
If we’re to truly address diversity in the creative sector then we must tackle barriers to retention and career development, too. It will require collaboration between industry and government, and it’s our hope that this new group can help facilitate that change.
Ed Vaizey MP
Conservative, Wantage and Didcot
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters
• Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition
