HC Deb 03 March 1999 vol 326 cc741-5W
Mr. Soames

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the members of the Creative Industries Task Force; on how many occasions since its establishment it has met; who was present at each meeting; what its work in progress is; and what conclusions it has reached to date. [72905]

Janet Anderson

The members of the Creative Industries Task Force are as followsRight hon. Chris Smith MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Chairman) Ministerial and official representatives of:

  • The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions
  • The Foreign and Commonwealth Office
  • The Department of Trade and Industry
  • HM Treasury
  • The Department for Education and Employment
  • The Minister for Women
  • The Scottish Office
  • The Welsh Office
  • The Northern Ireland Office
  • The British Council
  • The Office of Science and Technology
  • No. 10 Policy Unit
  • DCMS officials
Industry advisers:
  • Lord Alli—Planet 24
  • Richard Branson/Robert Devereux—Virgin Group Plc
  • Janice Hughes—Spectrum Strategy Consultants
  • Alan McGee—Creation Records
  • Gail Rebuck—Random House UK Ltd.
  • Eric Salama—WPP Group Plc
  • Paul Smith—Paul Smith Ltd.
  • Charles Allen1—Granada Group
  • Prof. Stephen Heppell1—Ultralab
  • Lord Puttnam (until July 1998)
  • 1Appointed January 1999.

The Creative Industries Task Force has met seven times since its establishment in June 1997. Alongside these seven meetings, there has been extensive contact with individual Task Force members about specific elements of the work programme. Those present at each meeting were as follows: First meeting—8 October 1997

  • The right hon. Chris Smith MP
  • Geoffrey Robinson MP
  • Peter Mandelson MP
  • Richard Caborn MP
  • Derek Fatchett MP
  • Barbara Roche MP
  • Dr. Kim Howells MP
  • Joan Ruddock MP
  • Sam Galbraith MP
  • Tony Worthington MP
  • Sir Robert May
  • Waheed Alli
  • Richard Branson
  • Robert Devereux
  • Janice Hughes
  • Alan McGee
    • 743
  • Lord Puttnam
  • Gail Rebuck
  • Eric Salama
  • Paul Smith
  • DCMS and other Government Departmental officials
Second meeting—17 December 1997
  • The right hon. Chris Smith MP
  • Geoffrey Robinson MP
  • The right hon. Derek Fatchett MP
  • Mark Fisher MP
  • Barbara Roche MP
  • Dr. Kim Howells MP
  • Sam Galbraith MP
  • Waheed Alli
  • Janice Hughes
  • Alan McGee
  • Lord Puttnam
  • Gail Rebuck
  • Paul Smith
  • DCMS and other Government Departmental officials
Third meeting—18 February 1998
  • The right hon. Chris Smith MP
  • Geoffrey Robinson MP
  • Richard Caborn MP
  • The right hon. Derek Fatchett MP
  • Mark Fisher MP
  • Dr. Kim Howells
  • Barbara Roche MP
  • Joan Ruddock MP
  • Sir Robert May
  • Dr. David Drewry
  • Waheed Alli
  • Robert Devereux
  • Janice Hughes
  • Gail Rebuck
  • Eric Salama
  • DCMS and other Government Departmental officials
Fourth meeting—5 May 1998
  • The right hon. Chris Smith MP
  • The right hon. Tom Clarke CBE MP
  • The right hon. Richard Caborn MP
  • The right hon. Derek Fatchett MP
  • Dr. Kim Howells
  • Sir Robert May
  • Waheed Alli
  • Robert Devereux
  • Janice Hughes
  • Gail Rebuck
  • Eric Salama
  • Dr. Ken Robinson, Chairman, the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education
  • Stuart Till, Co-chair, the Film Policy Review Group
  • DCMS and other Government Departmental officials
Fifth meeting—16 July 1998
  • The right hon. Chris Smith MP
  • Geoffrey Robinson MP
  • The right hon. Richard Caborn MP
  • Dr. Kim Howells MP
  • Barbara Roche MP
  • Tony Worthington MP
  • Win Griffiths MP
  • Dr. David Drewry
  • Robert Devereux
  • Alan McGee
  • Lord Puttnam
  • Gail Rebuck
  • Eric Salama
  • Stephen Carter, J Walter Thompson
  • DCMS and other Government Departmental officials
Sixth meeting—26 October 1998
  • The right hon. Chris Smith MP
  • The right hon. Richard Caborn MP
  • George Mudie MP
  • Barbara Roche MP
  • Peter Hain MP
  • Janet Anderson MP
  • Sir Robert May
  • Lord Alli
  • Janice Hughes
  • Gail Rebuck
  • Eric Salama
  • Kevin Kane, Scottish Enterprise
  • DCMS and other Government Departmental officials
Seventh meeting—14 December 1998
  • The right hon. Chris Smith MP
  • The right hon. Richard Caborn MP
  • Barbara Roche MP
  • Kim Howells MP
  • Sir Robert May
  • Janice Hughes
  • Gail Rebuck
  • Eric Salama
  • Mathilda Joubert, the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education
  • Michael Trickey, Arts Council of Wales
  • DCMS and other Government Departmental officials.

Work on the Task Force

The early work on the Creative Industries Task Force focused on mapping activity in the UK creative industries and assessing its economic value. The Task Force was responsible for the Creative Industries Mapping Document, which was published in November 1998. The Mapping Document has a practical application, besides providing a statistical analysis of the economic health of the creative industries.

The Creative Industries Task Force has now embarked on an ambitious work programme for the next 12–15 months, building on the findings in the Mapping Document. There are three key strands to the programme: (a) a focus on generic issues which affect the creative industries such as the skills base, finance for creative ventures, export promotion and intellectual property. Sub-Groups, led by Task Force members, will look at these issues; (b)an additional Sub-Group led by Richard Caborn will consider issues impacting on the creative industries at a regional level; and (a) a series of short, generally industry-related, inquiries will be carried out.