Creative Industries Advisory Group minutes: March 2021

Attendees and apologies

Present:

• Ms Hyslop – Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Fair Work and Culture
• Mr Hepburn - Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills

Creative industries:

• Brian Coane, The Leith Agency / Institute of Advertising Practitioners Scotland (industry co-chair)
• Carol Sinclair, Carol Sinclair Ceramics
• Rachel Brown, Creative Entrepreneurs’ Club
• Sarah Cameron, SENSCOT
• Chris Hunt, Freelance Creative 
• Jacqueline Donachie, Artist, Glasgow Sculpture Studios
• Dougal Perman, Scottish Music Industry Association 
• Simon Cotton, Johnstons of Elgin
• Janice Kirkpatrick, Graven 
• Jenny Todd, Publishing Consultant 
• Jane Muirhead, Raise the Roof Productions 
• Colin Anderson, Denki 
• Philip Hannay, Cloch Solicitors
• Pamela Tulloch, Scottish Library and Information Council 
• David Eustace, Photographer and Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University  
• Alex Smith, XpoNorth 

Observers:

• Iain Hamilton, Highlands and Islands Enterprise
• Andre Reibig, Scottish Funding Council
• David Martin, Skills Development Scotland 
• Clive Gilman, Creative Scotland
• David Smith, Screen Scotland 
• Steve Little, Screen Scotland 
• Derek McCrindle, Scottish Enterprise
• Susan McColl, Scottish Enterprise 
• Kevin Sievewright, Scottish Enterprise 
• Melissa Gunn, South of Scotland Enterprise

Scottish Government:

• Jonathan Pryce, Scottish Government 
• Simon Cuthbert-Kerr, Scottish Government
• Hazel Parkinson, Scottish Government 
• Heather Holmes, Scottish Government 
• India Divers, Scottish Government 

Apologies:

• Cameron Fraser, Ko Lik Animated Films 
• Lorna Macaulay, The Harris Tweed Authority
• Lucy Mason, Freelance Arts Producer and Consultant 
• Richard Scott, Axis Animation 

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions 

Ms Hyslop welcomed the members to the ninth meeting of the Creative Industries Advisory Group (CIAG) and thanked them for their attendance. She welcomed Brian Coane to his inaugural meeting as industry co-chair. Ms Hyslop thanked Mr Hepburn for his attendance and formally welcomed representatives from Screen Scotland and South of Scotland Enterprise, who were attending as representatives for the first time. 

Ms Hyslop emphasised the need to learn from the last year to help recovery and renewal of the creative industries. The creative industries had been affected to varying degrees by the pandemic. It would be crucial that the creative industries in Scotland could learn from what different parts of the sector had experienced when preparing for the future. 

Since the last meeting, COVID-19 had continued to dominate all ministerial portfolios. The Scottish Government and its partners had continued to engage and work with the sector to provide support. Over £140 million of funding had now been provided by the Scottish Government to support the culture, creative industries and heritage sectors – well beyond the £97 million consequentials from the UK Government’s culture and heritage support package. 

Ms Hyslop noted that the First Minister’s announcement on the 16 March regarding the easing of some COVID-19 restrictions had a number of implications for the creative industries and would allow for some cultural activity to begin to open gradually. Physical distancing measures would continue in place at present.     

Minutes of previous meetings and matters arising 

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed with one change. There were no outstanding actions from the last meeting. An update on the Scottish National Investment Bank was included in the     update papers. Ms Hyslop noted that continuing conversations on diversity and education were open actions from an earlier meeting. These discussions would be key when taking the creative industries forward and should be continued either in the Creative Industries Leadership Group (CILG – previously CIAG) main meeting and/or in workstreams. 

Action:

• discussions on education and diversity in the Creative Industries to be discussed at a future CILG or in working groups

Refresh of Creative Industries Advisory Group 

Mr Hepburn introduced the discussion on the refresh of the Creative Industries Advisory Group. There had been a commitment in March 2020 to refresh CIAG. A wider refresh had taken place across the Scottish Government’s industry leadership groups (ILGs) as a result of the Industry Leadership Groups review. This report had made a number of recommendations, including the need for ILGs to better interact with one another. This would bring greater opportunities for collaboration and place all groups into a wider context.

In discussion the following points were made: It was noted that while the sector was valued, the creative industries need to be more visible and better understood. There was a need to ensure that the sector had a more central role, for example in helping the economy recovery. The creative industries were well-placed to deliver change in the world. Scotland had world-leading and ranking institutes in Glasgow School of Art and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. 

Fair work was deemed a key issue, but it was flagged that the issue was most apparent in how others outside the sector valued the creative industries, rather than in how the creative industries valued themselves. There was concern that the creative industries were often perceived as a cost to the economy, rather than a generator of economic wealth.

The refresh of CIAG was seen as an opportunity for the group to go further in their work, but there was a need to be more ambitious still. This included ensuring that inspiration and emotion were both a driving force and reflected in the work of the group. The proposed changes, including the name change to the Creative Industries Leadership Group (CILG) were broadly supported. Comments in the Chat Bar highlighted that the new structure provided a chance to put momentum behind the group’s work, in particular through changes to the reporting processes of the group, including addition of working groups. Members noted that the proposals had benefited from their one-to-one engagements with the Industry Co-Chair, Brian Coane. 

Smaller working groups (e.g., 4 people) were seen as more productive than larger groups and these should include problem solvers and decision makers. It would be important for the group to form relationships and learn from those outside the sector, including engaging with creatives internationally.

Action:

• Creative Industries Leadership Group should engage with other Industry Leadership Groups to share learning and opportunities

Creative Industries Advisory Group – working groups  

The two proposed working groups were introduced. The focus of these are: (1) How can we train a creative workforce for the future of the industry?; (2) How can we increase the resilience of the creative industries sector so that they can go forward?

In discussion the following points were made: It was agreed to examine the talent pipelines within the creative industries and look at best practices. There was currently work ongoing on skills and the talent pipeline in screen and broadcasting, where different parts of the sector were coming together with a common aim. This approach could be mirrored through collaborative work across the creative industries. It was seen as important that the creative industries inspire people. Important to this were: outreach, training, hiring ensuring there was a career pathway. There was a need for plurality of thought to make the best creative products.

It was noted that the suggested remits for the working groups were vast and there would be potential for many sub-groups. It was important that there were practical outputs from the work and focused activity to ensure tangible results. The topics could be used as starting points, with individual working groups able to focus in on the areas they deemed most important and report back to the wider group. It was raised that it would be useful to have the content businesses (music, film and publishing) come together to deliver high profile projects and to recognise the full potential of cross-subsector projects.

A need for risk-taking was expressed. However, this would be difficult for smaller businesses if there was no funding support to enable them to do this. The University of the Highlands and Island’s LevelUp programme was approaching its first anniversary and was already tapping into the proposed themes. Other important examples were the work of the Ironworks Group and XpoNorth with its regional, national and international interface. 

There was a significant need to align skills with the needs of the industry; as such, the Scottish Funding Council review was timely. However, there was concern that phase one of the work did not address this alignment. Activity was needed to be able to influence this work. The group raised that they needed a steer from the Scottish Government on what it considered would be useful from the group. 

It was noted that collaborative work was being undertaken between the creative industries and University of Strathclyde, which demonstrated how the creative industries could work together. It was considered that resilience came through embedding creative approaches in education – for example, the skill of drawing was important for developing ideas and was an undervalued way of thinking. 

The group wanted to fully discuss the proposed topics before they were agreed upon and it was important that the working groups were not put in place too quickly. The here and now were important, but so too was the future, so it was important that the working groups made an impact. Space, creativity, innovation and critical thinking skills could be the focus of a group – they were important to the recovery and prosperity of Scotland. 

Ms Hyslop emphasised that the sector did not need permission to take action – it needed aspiration. The creative industries played a key role during the pandemic. Ensuring the efficacy of the talent pipeline was important. There was a need for the group to focus on both short, medium and long term initiatives, and to be able to have impact throughout Scotland, supported by the Scottish Government. There was a need for the sector to articulate its ask and needs as a sector, and to have an outward-looking focus, ensuring Scotland’s creative industries lead the way. 

Members agreed that creating a creative workforce was not the same as creating the workforce needed for the creative industries, Both were relevant topics but led to very different conversations - both were needed. There was a need to identify a range of creative career paths for individuals at all ages and stages, with a strong emphasis on opportunities for the self-employed as well as those in paid employment. 

Actions:

• XpoNorth to share findings from LevelUp programme with the group to shape discussions on skills
• industry co-chair Brian Coane to reflect points made in discussion when devising CILG work-plan

How do we ensure the creative industries prepare the path, build and deliver what will be next after the pandemic and learn from their experiences over the last year?

Ms Hyslop introduced the discussion which focused on what comes next for the creative industries after the pandemic and how to ensure the creative industries look forward strategically. The pandemic had helped to shape the use of technology within the sector and bring about rapid changes, as well as having reinforced the need for resilience. 

It was important to visualise the post-pandemic period. There was a need to look at how business models could diversify but also to recognise that there was a fear around risk taking when money was an issue. Radical change needed bravery. There was a need to recognise that creative risk taking needed to be supported and that it was a ‘measured risk’. Ms Hyslop emphasised that supporting creative freelancers had been a priority for the Scottish Government during the pandemic. 

Scotland could be a creative nation but there was a need to react to the change and to change systems. It was noted that it is inexpensive to fund innovation in the creative industries and that public sector should be working with the private sector to deliver innovation. There was a need to harness the new thinking and creativity that have emerged as a product of the pandemic. The example of hybrid events and issues surrounding the monetising of digital content was given.  

The Scottish Government was placing culture and the creative industries at the heart of what it was doing with the economy. This was being achieved through initiatives being undertaken by Creative Scotland and the enterprise and skills agencies as well as the National Culture Strategy/National Partnership for Culture, as well as the culture collective project.

There was discussion in the chat bar about how to mobilise artists rather than to subsidise. There was a need to think about resilience and ensuring there was a transparent career route into the job market. It was raised that there was a need to extend the Young Person’s Guarantee to sole traders and individuals. This could offer a mentoring system and work for new graduates, as well as other age groups. Art, commerce and education all supported one another. 

The group needed to represent the creative industries as a whole and to cut across sectors. Developments in city recovery, place, and the city centres taskforce all had creative people on them. There was a need to ensure that creativity was supported in local partnerships. It was considered important that there continued to be new talent able to enter the creative industries.

Ms Hyslop reflected that the sector needed to work effectively with Government on initiatives. It needed to reflect on raising the bar for the sector’s ambitions, to look at the bigger picture and to be bold in its thinking. This group would be a good forum to discuss the cross-cutting issues across the sector while bringing in other industries to share resilience and lessons learnt on common themes.

Mr Hepburn reiterated the need to ensure common themes are discussed between industry groups.

Brian Coane reflected that it was fantastic that so many actions had come out of this discussion and engagement occurring between government and CILG. The focus for the group would need to be on raising the bar in terms of ambition, being bold in its thinking, while also delivering on meaningful short term and long term projects.

Actions:

• the group should focus in on defining the value-base of the creative industries and how these values should inform the group’s outputs. Fair work could be a part of this discussion
• Scottish Government officials to ensure CILG and the National Partnership for Culture are linked up
• Scottish Government to ensure Scottish Government Young Person’s Guarantee team consider extensions to sole traders
• Scottish Government to approach Sandy Begbie (Scottish Financial Enterprise Chief Executive working on Young Person’s Guarantee)  to talk to the creative industries and to understand their needs. Discussion to be facilitated offline

AOB and date of next meeting 

Scottish Government provided an update on ongoing discussions over the merger of the Creative Industries Federation and Creative England resulting in a name change to Creative UK. The group agreed there was a risk of this name change causing presentational issues and confusion for creatives wanting to engage with the creative agencies in Scotland.

The next meeting was provisionally scheduled for 16 June 2021 (industry-only meeting). The next meeting with Ministers was on 8 September. It was noted that 16 June was the first day of XpoNorth, so this CILG date might be changed.

It was mentioned that Dundee Design Festival would be good to link into for the September meeting. 

Actions:

• industry co-chair and CILG secretariat to follow up on the working groups and their focus
• members to indicate their willingness to participate in the working groups which will be up and running before the June meeting
• CILG secretariat to confirm next CILG date

Full meeting actions

• the summary of discussions from the last meeting are to be amended online to reflect the change of text on p. 3
• discussions on education and diversity in the Creative Industries to be discussed at a future CILG or in working groups
• Creative Industries Leadership Group should engage with other Industry Leadership Groups to share learning and opportunities
• Xpo North to share findings from ‘LevelUp’ programme with the group to shape discussions on skills
• industry co-chair Brian Coane to reflect points made in discussion when devising CILG work-plan
• the group should focus in on defining the value-base of the creative industries and how these values should inform the group’s outputs. Fair work could be a part of this discussion
• Scottish Government officials to ensure CILG and the National Partnership for Culture are linked up
• Scottish Government to ensure Scottish Government Young Person’s Guarantee team consider extensions to sole traders
• Scottish Government to approach Sandy Begbie (Scottish Financial Enterprise Chief Executive working on Young Person’s Guarantee)  to talk to the creative industries and to understand their needs. Discussion to be facilitated offline
• industry co-chair and CILG secretariat to follow up on the working groups and their focus
• members to indicate their willingness to participate in the working groups which will be up and running before the June meeting
• CILG secretariat to confirm next CILG date