Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 31
31
Acknowledged
Film and HETV industry lacks transparency on training spending and relies on unreliable contributions.
Conclusion
Given how important skills are to the film and HETV industry, we are surprised that major streamers and studios could not give us a straight answer on how much they spend on training. The companies either don’t know how much they are spending or have something to hide. Either way, we are not confident the industry has enough incentive to share the data that is needed to develop a coherent, sector-wide skills strategy. We also note that relying on voluntary contributions of 1% of production budgets delivers a fluctuating sum for skills training, which is an unreliable means of resourcing a vital need for the industry. (Conclusion, Paragraph 113)
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that data on industry investment in skills and training is vital for a coherent strategy, but believes this should be an industry-led effort and does not support a statutory intervention.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The government agrees with the Committee that having data on industry investment in skills and training is vital in order to understand the landscape, and to develop a coherent skills strategy that reduces the risk of fragmentation and delivers more value for money. Our view is that this should be an industry-led effort, continuing the industry-led work of the Screen Sector Skills Task Force, and we expect ScreenSkills to provide leadership and improve transparency in skills investment in the UK. We do not agree that a statutory intervention across the entire industry is proportionate, noting that such action would increase the regulatory burden on businesses - the majority of which are small businesses.