HC 332 - Creative Industries in Scotland

Book excerpt: Scotland's creative industries are an international success story, having produced some of the world's best creative talent and some of the world's best-selling creative content. Scotland also hosts the world's largest arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which brings together performers and audiences from across Scotland, the UK and the world. The creative industries in Scotland have been tremendously successful, and they will no doubt continue to be so. For the potential of these industries to be maximised, however, it is essential that industry views are taken into account by both the UK and Scottish governments in order to create the right policy framework for supporting creative enterprises and benefitting the Scottish economy and Scotland's reputation as a centre of creative talent. Scottish Parliament's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee recently held an inquiry into the economic impact of the creative industries in Scotland, looking at the film, TV and video games industries, and produced a report in March 2015. Their work focused on devolved areas of responsibility but also considered the impact of reserved matters such as tax reliefs, immigration and broadcasting. The Scottish Government responded to the report in May 2015, accepting a number of their recommendations and committing to take action on them. We launched our inquiry into the creative industries in Scotland to focus on some of the reserved policy areas highlighted by the Scottish Parliament's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee and to look at how the interests of the creative industries in Scotland are represented at a UK-level.