Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Conclusion 31
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)
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)
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.