Written questions by Hayes.

Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to prevent football club (a) grounds and (b) other assets from being sold for other uses.

The Football Governance Bill was introduced to Parliament on 24 October 2024. The Bill delivers on our manifesto commitment to establish the independent football regulator and a new set of rules to protect clubs, empower fans and keep clubs at the heart of their communities.This includes a requirement for clubs to seek the Regulator’s approval for a stadium sale or relocation. The potential sale of a club’s home ground must not undermine the financial sustainability of the club.The home ground is often the most important economic and heritage asset of a club so has been given specific protections. The Regulator will assess the wider assets of a club as part of the financial regulation regime.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the competitiveness of the UK visual effects sector.

The UK is a global hub of talent and is home to many of the world’s biggest VFX studios. The UK’s visual effects (VFX) sector is highly competitive, competing successfully with production centres in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, South East Asia, and Europe, to secure substantial inward investment.The government is committed to supporting the UK’s visual effects industry, ensuring that they are able to remain competitive and with international reach. We will continue to focus on maintaining a strong and globally competitive sector by attracting new film and high-end TV productions that require our VFX and post-production studios; providing competitive tax incentives; investing in infrastructure; supporting innovation; working with industry on skills development; and promoting independent content. The government will continue to ensure our tax incentives are modern, agile, competitive and attractive.The government will continue to engage both with sector organisations like the UK Screen Alliance and with individual VFX studios to make sure the UK remains an attractive and competitive place to do business.Whilst DCMS Sector Economic Estimates provide high level figures for employment within the Creative Industries, DCMS does not hold this information for each creative sub sector. However, BFI’s most recent report estimates that the UK VFX sector directly employed 10,680 FTE in 2021. The same BFI report also estimates the total number of jobs supported by VFX, including indirect employment through the supply chain, was 27,430 FTE in 2021.

Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the number of people employed in the UK's visual effects sector.

The UK is a global hub of talent and is home to many of the world’s biggest VFX studios. The UK’s visual effects (VFX) sector is highly competitive, competing successfully with production centres in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, South East Asia, and Europe, to secure substantial inward investment.The government is committed to supporting the UK’s visual effects industry, ensuring that they are able to remain competitive and with international reach. We will continue to focus on maintaining a strong and globally competitive sector by attracting new film and high-end TV productions that require our VFX and post-production studios; providing competitive tax incentives; investing in infrastructure; supporting innovation; working with industry on skills development; and promoting independent content. The government will continue to ensure our tax incentives are modern, agile, competitive and attractive.The government will continue to engage both with sector organisations like the UK Screen Alliance and with individual VFX studios to make sure the UK remains an attractive and competitive place to do business.Whilst DCMS Sector Economic Estimates provide high level figures for employment within the Creative Industries, DCMS does not hold this information for each creative sub sector. However, BFI’s most recent report estimates that the UK VFX sector directly employed 10,680 FTE in 2021. The same BFI report also estimates the total number of jobs supported by VFX, including indirect employment through the supply chain, was 27,430 FTE in 2021.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support emerging artists in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area.

We are in the early stages of the new Government and we are considering the full range of policy options to support the arts and creative industries, and help the cultural sectors to thrive.This government is committed to supporting culture, and making sure the arts and cultural activities will no longer be the preserve of a privileged few. We are working with Arts Council England and others to understand what the challenges and opportunities are for our sectors. As part of the Government’s “Creating Growth” plan, DCMS is undertaking a review documenting current and past funding for the arts, culture, and heritage sectors.Arts Council England’s open funding programme, National Lottery Project Grants, is accessible to organisations and individuals across the country, including those in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area. This programme provides over £100 million of support annually, and is open to new and emerging artists.

Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to support the visual effects industry in the context of the competitive international market.

The government is committed to supporting the UK’s visual effects (VFX) industry, ensuring that they remain competitive and with international reach.The government will continue to ensure tax incentives are modern, agile, competitive and attractive.We will also continue to focus on maintaining a strong and globally competitive film and tv industry by supporting investment in infrastructure; fostering innovation; working with industry on skills development; and promoting independent content.The government will continue to engage with sector organisations such as the UK Screen Alliance to support and champion our award winning VFX talent and make the UK an attractive and competitive place to do business.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department to support the UK as a major location for the visual effects industry.

The government is committed to supporting the UK’s visual effects and Animation industries, ensuring that they are able to remain competitive and with international reach. We will continue to focus on maintaining a strong and globally competitive sector by keeping tax incentives modern, agile and attractive; investing in infrastructure; supporting innovation; working with industry on skills development; and promoting independent content.The audio-visual tax reliefs - administered by the BFI - play a key role in boosting competitiveness, incentivising the production of culturally British content, and contributing to the industry’s - and the nation’s - economic growth.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase the competitiveness of the United Kingdom's (a) visual effects and (b) animation industry.

The government is committed to supporting the UK’s visual effects and Animation industries, ensuring that they are able to remain competitive and with international reach. We will continue to focus on maintaining a strong and globally competitive sector by keeping tax incentives modern, agile and attractive; investing in infrastructure; supporting innovation; working with industry on skills development; and promoting independent content.The audio-visual tax reliefs - administered by the BFI - play a key role in boosting competitiveness, incentivising the production of culturally British content, and contributing to the industry’s - and the nation’s - economic growth.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of unemployment in (a) the visual effects sector and (b) UK film and TV post production.

The last Parliament saw the biggest increase in economic inactivity in nearly 40 years. Film and TV employment rates were drastically affected by the US writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023, and VFX and post-production was affected for longer than most. Figures from trade union Bectu suggest that the sector is recovering slowly, as unemployment across film and TV is down from 74% in September 2023 to 52% in July 2024. This clearly remains a difficult time for the sector and the government is committed to working with the sector to get it back to rude health, by attracting new film and high-end TV productions that require our VFX and post-production studios; providing competitive tax incentives; investing in infrastructure; supporting innovation, and promoting independent content.The government will continue to ensure our tax incentives are modern, agile, competitive and attractive.The government wants to ensure a creative career remains a viable prospect for people from whatever their background. We are working with industry stakeholders as they respond to the recommendations of the Good Work Review, a sectoral deep dive funded by DCMS into job quality and working practice. This sets out a number of priorities, including developing dedicated support and guidance for self-employed creators.The government will continue to engage with sector organisations such as the UK Screen Alliance to support and champion our award winning VFX and post-production talent and make the UK an attractive and competitive place to do business.

Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of trends in the level of the contribution of visual effects and animation industry to the economy in the last ten years.

The government is committed to supporting the UK’s visual effects and animation industries, ensuring that they are able to remain competitive nationally and internationally. We will continue to focus on maintaining a strong and globally competitive sector by keeping tax incentives modern, agile, competitive and attractive; investing in infrastructure; supporting innovation; working with industry on skills development; and promoting independent content.The audio-visual tax reliefs play a key role in boosting competitiveness, incentivising the production of culturally British content, and contributing to the industry’s - and the nation’s - economic growth. The Government values the UK’s visual effects and animations sectors and the important role they play in the fabric of the creative industries; and is committed to giving creators security and a regulatory and fiscal environment where creativity can flourish and help the UK’s creative industries maximise their economic potential.During 2019 the VFX industry added £1.68bn in GVA to the UK economy and supported 27,430 jobs. This is likely an underestimate due to the spillover impacts of advertising and brand promotion work that were not captured in BFI's analysis. 201825,790 FTE and £1.58bn201722,500 FTE and £1.31bn201618,880 FTE and £1.08bn The total economic impact for the parts of the sector supported by Animation Tax Relief amounted to: 2017£258.1 million in GVA2018£261.0 million2019£254.6 million in GVA

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support British citizens working in Quebec's (a) visual effects and (b) animation industry to return to the United Kingdom's creative industries.

The government is committed to supporting the UK’s visual effects and animation industries, ensuring that they are able to remain competitive nationally and internationally. We will continue to focus on maintaining a strong and globally competitive sector by keeping tax incentives modern, agile, competitive and attractive; investing in infrastructure; supporting innovation; working with industry on skills development; and promoting independent content.The audio-visual tax reliefs play a key role in boosting competitiveness, incentivising the production of culturally British content, and contributing to the industry’s - and the nation’s - economic growth. The Government values the UK’s visual effects and animations sectors and the important role they play in the fabric of the creative industries; and is committed to giving creators security and a regulatory and fiscal environment where creativity can flourish and help the UK’s creative industries maximise their economic potential.During 2019 the VFX industry added £1.68bn in GVA to the UK economy and supported 27,430 jobs. This is likely an underestimate due to the spillover impacts of advertising and brand promotion work that were not captured in BFI's analysis. 201825,790 FTE and £1.58bn201722,500 FTE and £1.31bn201618,880 FTE and £1.08bn The total economic impact for the parts of the sector supported by Animation Tax Relief amounted to: 2017£258.1 million in GVA2018£261.0 million2019£254.6 million in GVA