Creative Skillset Announces £32m Fund

Creative Skillset has announced a new £32m Skills Investment Fund to support creative growth.
Skillset’s new Fund is aimed at addressing skills gaps and shortages in the growth sectors of film, animation, high-end TV, games and VFX.
Industry co-investment to meet identified priority skills needs will be matched by the Treasury of up to £16m over two years.
For every £1 invested by industry Creative Skillset says it will match £1 from the SIF, leading to a total of £32m.
Creative Skillset is working with all five sectors to identify priority skills areas and ways to address skills gaps and shortages, including a new cross sector employer Challenge Fund, due to be launched later this year.
Each sector will have an advisory skills council to identify key skills shortages and develop action plans to oversee the collection of the fund and how it is invested.
The SIF will invest in a range of initiatives, from new entrant training to continuous development for professionals already in the industry.
These could include bootcamps and apprenticeships, subsidised training schemes, short courses and shadowing and mentoring programmes.
The film, high-end TV and animation sectors will contribute to the SIF through production levies and other co-investment.
The games industry will co-invest via a number of schemes, including investing in training for professionals and supporting trainees via a pilot to be launched next month. Creative Skillset is in discussion with the VFX sector to agree the best way forward.
Creative Skillset is the licensed Sector Skills Council for entertainment media, fashion and textiles, publishing and advertising, marketing and communications.
www.creativeskillset.org
(IT)