Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Conclusion 28
First Report - British film and high-end television
Published 10 Apr 2025
Addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee British film and high-end television 2 All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The film and HETV industry has been too slow to respond to skills shortages. That has had serious consequences for those working in it, and for the ability of domestic productions to afford to pay crews and creatives. Countless reviews, reports, strategies and plans for tackling this crisis have been published or promised, but essential questions remain unanswered about the number of people that are needed, the roles that need filling, the costs of training those people and the adequacy of current spending on skills to meet those costs. There is an urgent need not just for strategic thinking, but for a clear path to delivering practical measures that tackles the crisis once and for all. (Conclusion, Paragraph 106)
From: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, First Report - British film and high-end television (HC 328), 10 April 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 3 July 2025 (deadline 10 July 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it "fully support[s] the fundamental tenets of the report" and sets out responses to each recommendation, agreeing with some, declining others and keeping several under consideration.
- On the UK Global Screen Fund the government says "We agree" and has committed, within a new £75 million Screen Growth Package (2026–2029), to scaling it up from £7 million to £18 million per year.
- It does not plan a specific review of the Enterprise Investment Scheme changes, has "no plans to introduce a levy on SVoD services", and does not plan to rejoin Creative Europe.
- On freelancers, DCMS "will appoint a creative freelance champion", with a champion appointed in 2025, rather than a commissioner, which it says would take longer to implement.
- On AI and copyright, the government is "keeping an open mind" and will set out an economic impact assessment and a report within nine months of Royal Assent of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.