In November 2004, Welsh economic development minister Andrew Davies launched Wales’ first Creative Industries Strategy, which focused on four sectors identified as having significant economic potential to contribute to the Welsh economy: film, television, music and new media.
The Strategy was based on significant consultation with the creative industries in Wales and marked a brave step by prioritising specific areas within the industry. The new team in Creative Industries Support Services started work for the Welsh Assembly in January 2006.
At the centre of the newly established service is the Creative Hub, which will focus on the development of the four priority areas. The team has employed industry specialists with experience of working in music, film and television to identify ways to work with companies and the sector to maximise their contribution to the Welsh economy.
The Creative Hub will also look at ways to ensure that the public sector works effectively for the creative industries by making sure that all policy and strategic interventions made by the Welsh Assembly are meaningful and co-ordinated. This area of work will include tourism, international work, regeneration and education/training.
The Creative Hub has also begun to scope-design to identify whether there is value that can be added to the existing services already provided to support the development of design in Wales. The Creative Hub will seek to build on established good practice, for example the work of the Design Commission and Design Wales. Duplication of existing services will be avoided where further policy or strategic interventions are made.
The ethos of the Creative Industries Strategy is based on the idea that partnerships and collaborations are the only way to maximise the investment made by the public sector. The service operates on a hub-and-spoke model, with the Hub being within the Assembly and the spokes being outside the public sector. Currently the directly funded (by the Hub) spokes are the Film Agency,
Cultural Enterprise and the Welsh Music Foundation. Other partner agencies that are key to the implementation of the Strategy include the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, the sector skills councils, local authorities, the trade associations and the trade unions.
In terms of maximising the economic benefit to the Welsh economy, it will be essential to identify opportunities for the creative industries to become integrated into all areas of the economy. For example, in the first year the Hub aims to develop good practice guidelines for clustering, identifying the key elements needed to ensure that a creative cluster is as effective as possible. This will be developed in consultation with local authorities through the Welsh Local Government Association as well as colleagues from within the Assembly working in regeneration, education and others as appropriate.
Tourism and events are also key areas for development in terms of attracting visitors to Wales and promoting the creative industries abroad. Integrated into all of these three areas is the film location service, providing advice and support for film and television companies wishing to come to and work in Wales.