British Screen Forum Manifesto for a New Government

British Screen Forum has today (8 July 2024) published a Manifesto that calls on the new Government to develop Screen Sector policy based on a clear understanding of the high cost, high risk, hit-dependent nature of the industry, with carefully targeted interventions that ensure the Screen Sector can continue to make its significant contribution to the growth of the UK economy as a major part of the UK Creative Industries, which has an estimated GVA of £124 billion, an export market worth £46 billion and a highly skilled workforce of 2.4 million people in the UK.

The Manifesto can be found here.

The Manifesto encourages the incoming Government to recognise the important contribution the Screen Sector provides to the UK economy and to continue to support the industry’s growth through targeted policy interventions based on a clear understanding of the Screen Sector’s business models, such as:

• maintaining a competitive production expenditure credit regime at a time when other international markets are taking action to attract foreign investors
• taking steps to improve access to finance in the UK, particularly for smaller, independent producers, by reviewing HMRC’s EIS and SEIS guidance as it relates to screen sector businesses
• expanding expenditure credit definitions to include creative R&D as an eligible cost – something many competitor territories do
• introducing a new targeted expenditure credit for distribution and marketing costs that would work in tandem with the new Independent Film Tax Credit
• considering a temporary 0% VAT rate on cinema tickets as the industry continues to recover from the pandemic
• protecting the intellectual property of Screen Sector businesses, by taking an approach to policy making on AI which respects IP legislation already in place, maintaining the recognition of UK-produced content as European Works and ruling out any move to international exhaustion of IP rights for packaged home entertainment
• supporting the Screen Sector’s ability to provide services across borders and pursue new opportunities in key target markets by enhancing existing international cooperation agreements and creating new opportunities for Screen Sector exports
• ensuring the UK can offer top class digital and physical production infrastructure
• supporting Screen Sector industry efforts to recruit and retain talented individuals regardless of their background by providing an excellent creative and technological education to children and young people, identifying ways to optimise how the Apprenticeship Levy is deployed in the Screen Sector and supporting industry efforts to address issues that disproportionately affect a freelance workforce such as mental health, financial resilience and continuing professional development
• supporting Screen Sector endeavours to minimise the environmental impact of the industry in a way which does not have a negative effect on content creation