Why is the government talking about design?

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Overview
Your perspectives on this issue

The UK Government

It's planning on helping creative businesses

The creative industries accounted for 7.3% of total UK Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2005.
Recent research by NESTA found that 34% of the creative workforce is employed in non-creative sectors, making creative activities as embedded in the economy as financial services.
Only 35% of creative SMEs use formal business planning techniques

This all means that a combination of new, joined-up government policies and input from the industries themselves is needed to ensure our creative sector continues to grow and prosper.

'Creative Britain: new talents for the new economy', published in February 2008, committed to improve the skills and business support offered to people working in the creative industries by:

Improving professional standards. The Design Council is working on this
Making 5,000 apprenticeships available across each year across the creative industries by 2013
Improving access to finance for creative businesses and helping them to enforce Intellectual Property rights

There's money to make these aims work

£3million from NESTA's Innovators Growth Programme to improve small and medium-sized creative enterprises' capacity to innovate
£10million from the Technology Strategy Board to engage small creative firms in new and collaborative research and development

Reading list

Creative Britain: new talents for the new economy

A strategy document published by dcms and Berr in February 2008. How can creative industries be supported to support the UK economy?

Staying Ahead: the economic performance of the UK's creative industries

Without careful policy-making and a supportive institutional architecture, the flow of creativity worth commercialising may begin to slow, warns this report from The Work Foundation.

YOUR PERSPECTIVES ON THIS ISSUE

Alistair Darling

Then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

Design is good for the bottom line but with only a fraction of UK businesses investing in design, they are missing a huge opportunity.

Will Hutton

Chief Executive, The Work Foundation

There's no doubt that Britain’s creative knack is something to celebrate. The stuff that creates new insights, delights and experiences, that stirs our senses and enriches our lives, is also the stuff that is propelling a larger slice of our economic output. The question is can we continue to supply this growing demand? How we create the architecture that will incubate rather than stunt creative industry growth is a major policy question.

Nico Macdonald

Design and technology commentator and consultant

For designers, the most interesting questions may be 'What else should Government do to promote more innovation in service delivery or in policy development?' and 'What types of skills should Government be encouraging?' I have posted my responses to DIUS's Innovation Nation on my Journal.

Hilary Potter

Director, City Fringe Partnership

Companies in the City Fringe (those located in the area to the north and east of the Square Mile) are already benefiting from support for design-led innovation. One year on from the influential Cox Report, City Fringe Partnership projects in the furniture, fashion and print manufacturing and jewellery sectors are helping SMEs to access the skills and equipment required to put design at the heart of their commercial activities. These sectors are essential to the regional and national economy.

David Kester

Design Council Chief Executive

Britain has to become more impatient to deliver progress, as we are not reacting quickly enough to the challenge. The Design Council is continuing to work with business and the public sector to embrace design, but there is a long way to go before its potential significantly to contribute to economic competitiveness is fully exploited. Britain has great creative capabilities, but it is currently sitting on an under-utilised asset. We need to act now, before it is too late.