Culture ‘key to sustainable economic growth and healthy communities’

A new paper from Creative UK calls on the UK Government to recognise how key culture is to “sustainable economic growth, healthy communities and a confident national story”. 

The Culture as Growth Infrastructure report, published on 17 December, made nine recommendations for next steps the government should take, based on the expertise of academics and over 30 sectors leaders.

The Culture and Heritage (CHC) framework was developed by the Department for Culture Media & Sport (DCMS) to enable the cultural and social value derived from cultural projects to be assessed similarly to other forms of public investment.

The report’s recommendations:

1. Embed the CHC framework as supplementary guidance to the Treasury’s Green Book
2. Conduct a national cultural infrastructure audit to identify where investment is most needed
3. Fund a practical implementation so that the CHC can be applied consistently in appraisals and evaluations
4. HMRC and DSIT should publish guidance on how cultural organisation and creative innovations can qualify for existing Research & Development tax relief
5. Develop a pilot model across Integrated Care Systems to embed cultural partners in health delivery and measure value for money
6. Create a public national philanthropy register
7. Mobilise investment through the British Business Bank
8. Finance cultural infrastructure through the National Wealth Fund
9. Establish a Cultural Infrastructure Commission

The Creative UK report argued that more strategic long-term investment within the arts and culture sectors could be made if the Treasury embedded the CHC framework as supplementary guidance to its Green Book, the framework by which programmes, policies and projects are assessed. The CHC framework would allow for the economic impact of culture to be precisely calculated. 

According to the paper, the UK’s cultural sector contributes around £38.2bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) per year. It also stated that the annual benefit of regular cultural engagement, due to its positive impact on health and wellbeing, is £929 per person per year,

The report included further evidence of economic benefits derived from cultural projects. For instance, Historic England’s High Street Heritage Action Zones programme was calculated to deliver benefits of over £245m across 66 economically deprived places. Analysis for Historic England estimated that heritage-related visitor spend came to £28b in 2023. 

Commenting on the report, Caroline Norbury, the chief executive of Creative UK, said: “For too many years, the cultural sector has come up against a pervasive and persistent myth: that theatre, music, museums, literature, opera, visual art and so many more incredible cultural assets are a ‘nice to have’ in our society. That culture is a cost to us, rather than an investment. This could not be further from the truth. 

“As this paper rightly states, every pound spent on the UK’s incredible cultural output generates measurable gains in productivity, health and tax revenue. Concerts, plays, exhibitions – these boost local economies, and drive growth in every corner of the UK, whilst supporting wellbeing and social cohesion.  

“This myth can be undercut once and for all, if we find better ways to tell the impact story. And when the value of culture is properly measured and understood, we open up opportunities for more investment in the sector, and in turn, more growth for the UK.”