How the Government will continue to back the film industry - Lisa Nandy

Film is one of the great British success stories of the last 30 years. Ever since Gordon Brown created the film tax credit back in 2007, this amazing industry has created jobs and growth across the UK and flown the flag for British creativity across the world.

The Government has huge ambition for the film sector and we are introducing secondary legislation that will put rocket boosters under this growing industry and unlock the potential of our incredible independent film sector.

The UK has some special advantages that give us a natural competitive edge.

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Thanks to the creativity and imagination of our authors, playwrights and publishers, we have some of the best stories to tell and take to the screen, helped by some of the best story tellers in the world - the directors, scriptwriters and cinematographers - and against some of the most incredible backdrops, from the Welsh valleys to the north-east coastline, as well as acting talent that is second to none and that breathes life into those stories.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy arrives in Downing Street, London, for a Cabinet meeting. PIC: Ben Whitley/PA WireCulture Secretary Lisa Nandy arrives in Downing Street, London, for a Cabinet meeting. PIC: Ben Whitley/PA Wire
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy arrives in Downing Street, London, for a Cabinet meeting. PIC: Ben Whitley/PA Wire

Our film industry is one of our great economic and cultural success stories. It is worth £1.36bn and employs more than 195,000 people and it has created true icons such as James Bond, Harry Potter and my personal favourite, Paddington Bear.

The Government has three aims for our film industry. First, we want to attract the investment for UK film makers to make the best films in the world.

Secondly, we want UK audiences to see films that reflect their lives and their communities. That means telling a wide diversity of British stories that draws on the rich cultural inheritance in every region and nation.

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Thirdly, we want the UK to be the best place in the world to make films, because we have the right ingredients: the investment, the talent, the technical skills, the sound stages, the creative imagination, and the right fiscal and regulatory environment.

That is why this Government will do everything in its power to ensure that the fiscal and regulatory environment matches the ambition of film makers and studios around the world. We want them to invest in great British film making.

However, the key to maintaining that advantage is an internationally competitive tax regime, and I think that is beyond party politics.

Tax incentives for film were first introduced by the last Labour Government in 2007 and the previous Conservative Government followed suit with the announcement of a planned UK independent film tax credit in the last spring Budget.

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We have heard loud and clear the industry’s concerns that any further delays to introducing this secondary legislation, even to the end of the month, may mean that investments in UK independent films are lost.

So we have laid the necessary statutory instrument for the independent film tax credit to take effect. It means that eligible films with a budget of up to £23.5m can claim enhanced audiovisual expenditure credit at a rate of 53 per cent on their qualifying expenditure up to £15m.

That is higher than the standard 34 per cent rate for other films.

An abridged version of a speech by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy in the House of Commons.

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