Weekly Events Blog: 27 January | IPT

Creative Economy: The Contribution of UK Culture to Growth

The UK has a globally recognised and world leading creative sector which is a vital driver of both economic and social growth. The creative industries are worth £125 billion to the UK economy and employ over 2 million people across the country. Culture is also fundamental to the UK’s soft power and exports, as well as being at the forefront of digital innovation.

 

Engagement with the arts not only supports economic growth but is essential to local communities and people’s wellbeing. In 2023, 91% of UK adults – the equivalent of around 51 million people – engaged with the arts in one way or another. With the creative industries being named in the Industrial Strategy as one of the Government’s eight growth-driving sectors, how can we build on our strengths and ensure UK culture realises its full potential. 

Key discussion points were:

  • Careers and Skills. There has been little attention given to sustainable long-term careers in the sector. The current system burns individuals out quickly, and then they leave. There needs to be an emphasis on the upskilling in the sector.
  • Freelancers. The £126billion brought in by the creative sectors is powered by freelancers. However, the nature of such work can be difficult to sustain. Because of this lack of stability highly skilled individuals are having to leave the sector due to work drying up. How can they be better supported?
  • Using space. Space, the place of encounter with creative industries, can be used more efficiently. This isn’t helped by the stop-start nature of investment for a number of years in the sector, as it makes it harder to plan long-term programmes and initiatives. Further, businesses and industries continually having to compete for funding can lead to friction within the industry, despite the shared goals of maintenance and growth.
  • Holding space. The impact of the creative sector goes beyond economic incentives and growth. The industry allows people to express themselves in safe spaces and explore their interests as well as embracing a community.
  • Growth, Jobs, and Joy. When exploring measures to support growth and jobs, the importance of the joy that the creative sector brings cannot be forgotten. If more businesses decide to take on four-day working weeks there needs to be more support for creative and cultural opportunities to take up the rest of the week.

Protecting Against Fraud and Online Scams

 

Between 2021 and 2023 roughly 10 million Britons fell victim to fraud. UK Finance found that £570 million was lost to fraud in the first half of 2024. The impact of fraud goes beyond financial losses. Most victims of fraud do tend to receive some if not all their money back, directly from their bank. But over 80% of UK fraud victims experienced further negative effects due to their experience, including losing trust in others or a plethora of negative emotional effects. Individuals also lose trust in their banks, despite their paying out for reimbursements.

 

Collective action between banks, social media companies, government and police has been suggested as the key necessity to effectively tackle the “fraudemic”. The National Crime Agency (NCA) reports that fraud accounts for 40% of crime in the UK, but only 13% of cases are reported to Action Fraud or the police. Most victims go straight to their banks to report fraud. What steps do we need to take to tackle fraud efficiently across the “fraud chain”?

 

 Key discussion points were:

  • Fraud is a deeply sophisticated crime. Fraudsters are developing advanced means of committing crime, and the crime is not being committed solely by individuals. Fraud has become an organised crime carried out against the UK populace from across the world.
  • Growth. Fraud places a huge drag on growth in the economic sector. Not only are banks and people losing money, but there is a further impact seen in the reduction of consumer spending.
  • The UK is an attractive place for fraudsters, and this opinion is held internationally. Stemming from the great uptake in English across the world, as well as the swift adoption of faster payments across the UK and the generally fast uptake of new technologies in the UK. Fraudsters flourish when you combine these.
  • Reimbursement has been the traditional focus. This lines the pockets of fraudsters and takes money out of the economy. There is a need to turn our attention and our efforts to prevention as much as possible, across all links of the fraud chain.
  • The Australian model. The Australian government recently set up a scam’s prevention framework. Designated industries including telecommunications companies, social media companies, and banks will share the liability for fraud and scams and can face fines of up to $50million if they do not comply.
  • Education campaigns. Consumers have an important role to play in tackling fraud given the high proportion of cases that start with a human entry point. But, for consumers to act efficiently they must be educated effectively on what to look out for and what actions to take.