DCMS Facing the Axe: What It Means for the UK’s Creative Sector

Jonathan Glazier TV format expert and Director

May 17, 2025

Today the reports of the Axing of the DCMS are gathering momentum, but is this an opportunity to get it right and help the flailing UK Creative sector?

In economic circles a £1.00 investment in the creative sector is calculated to retuning £1.5 to GDP. The potential savings to the taxpayer of axing the DCMS are reported to be £1.6b

Closing down DCMS could save £1.6bn – Institute of Economic Affairs

But does that headline tell a worring story for the ARTs in the UK givine the IEA portests its independance but is part of a renown libertarian lobby group in London and has suppotted Liz Truss and is agenerally critical of Net Zero targets? Is the narrative another back door attack on the so called liberal leftisum of the media? Read the full article and make up your own mind.

There have been other reports from the BBC

Sighs at culture department as latest axe rumour denied – BBC

and the telegraph (no link because you have to subscribe, not a paper I support)

Lisa Nandy’s Culture Department faces axe

The stage makes the case for the DCMS and its importance for the artistic community. In my opinion the very nature of the Ministerial carve up up duties actually highlights the issues of the department (see below). Why would you split the creative industries from media? Why not be more practical and have one minister Responsible for Film and TV, given its one of they key areas identified for growth?

Sir Chris Bryant MP, Minister for Creative Industries, Arts, and Tourism:

Arts and Libraries
Creative Industries
Museums and cultural property
Cultural diplomacy and soft power
Tourism
Heritage

Stephanie Peacock MP, Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth

Sport
Media
Civil Society
Youth
Ceremonials

The proposal would shift the DCMS portfolio to various other departments, Education being one.

So that’s the background to all this but as my title “DCMS Facing the Axe” suggests I can see an opportunity. Given the complex state the industry faces today, with the income to the sector increasing but activity severely decreasing; creating mass unemployment, an exodus of talent and a dearth of new IP, both the traditional drivers of the UK TV industry. So….

Time for a UK KOCCA? A Proposal for Smarter Creative Sector Export Strategy

The UK is rightly proud of its creative industries. From Peaky Blinders to Harry Potter, FIFA to Florence + the Machine, our stories and sounds travel far. In 2022, the creative industries contributed £124.6 billion to the UK economy and supported 2.4 million jobs. On paper, that’s a thriving sector.

But behind the headlines, cracks are forming.

Freelancers are under-employed. Original TV commissioning has slowed dramatically. Thousands of hours of broadcast airtime are being filled with repeats or imports. Production companies report cashflow strain, and many are quietly downsizing. Despite appearances, the UK’s creative engine is sputtering at the level that matters most: its supply chain.

So what’s missing? Strategy. Scale. A joined-up system for supporting and exporting UK creative IP, not just the talent behind it.

This is not a complaint about existing agencies—it’s a proposal to build on what we already have.

What We Have Now

The UK’s support for the creative sector is broad, but fragmented:

DCMS provides strategic oversight and targeted investments—most recently a £60 million growth package in 2025.
Creative UK invests leanly and efficiently in regional innovation.
PACT, BFI, and Innovate UK provide funding, policy insight, and training.
The BBC acts as a cultural ambassador, projecting British values and creativity globally.

But no single agency is tasked with owning the UK’s national and global creative strategy.

We fund production. We train talent. But when it comes to building scalable, internationally licensable IP—formats, series, games, franchises—we lack a unified push. Locally in training and HR (or as the industry now insists on labeling it “Talent Management”) the practices lack basic regulation and centralisation. HR in TV has been described as “the wild west of human resources.” Favouritism, and Ageism are rife, and the employment from the working classes as reduced to the point of exclusion.

The ageism has created a crisis, it’s an industry where the over 50’s face unsustainable careers, they still have 16 to 18 years before retirement. Young people realising this are not attracted to the industry. Together with stories of bullying and long hours for little reward. So new entrants think twice, or leave once they realise the lack of opportunity, the senior workforce have already left, forced out by the ageist practices of the talent managers. Training and leadership is left in tatters and creativity and deliverability are threatened.

All dripping in irony from an industry that demands pervious experience for new entrants and commissioners who will only contemplate production companies with a previous history. It doesn’t take a PhD in media or psychology to realise this is s disastrous policy and is IMHO a good reason for the DCMS Facing the Axe.

Learning from South Korea and the Netherlands

South Korea’s KOCCA (Korea Creative Content Agency) is a model worth understanding.

With a government-backed budget of £370 million in 2023, KOCCA isn’t just a support body, it’s an engine of national creative strategy. It funds IP development, promotes Korean content abroad, and even advises on international co-production deals. It’s played a pivotal role in turning K-pop, K-drama, and game design into billion-pound exports.

The Netherlands takes a slightly different—but equally centralized—approach. Through the Creative Industries Fund NL and its Top Sector initiative, it fosters collaboration between government, business, and research, with a clear international cultural policy embedded in its work. The Dutch creative sector, though smaller than the UK’s, punches above its weight globally.

Could the UK Do Better?

Some might argue: “We do a lot with very little. Why change that?”

And yes—Creative UK has shown that with just £9 million, 30+ creative businesses can scale, hire, and innovate. But that’s exactly the point. If £9 million delivers results—what could £90 million do? And it’s still a long way off £1.6b even with running costs.

I am not suggesting bureaucracy for its own sake. I am proposing a Creative Content Authority—a centralized body with a clear mission:

to locally fund and support, and then strategically export British creative IP.

This wouldn’t replace DCMS or PACT or Creative UK. It would work alongside them, aligning their efforts into an outward-facing growth strategy for film, TV, gaming, and music IP. Although i will admit the rebel in my is screaming for a new direction and disruption, I have alse been rather restrained in no mentioning Ofcom, thats another post.

What This New Agency Could Do

Promote British IP abroad at events like MIPCOM, Gamescom, SXSW, and beyond.
Commission locally original export-ready formats from across the nations and regions.
Fund Pilots, 12 a year
Broker international co-production deals and partnerships.
Create export toolkits for producers, including legal support for IP protection.
Measure success with economic evidence, not only awards or airtime.
Support HR and Training
Work with the Department od Education on a proper education pathway from Primary to university, apprenticeships and talented individual support

Why Now?

Because the signals from government are clear: there is no intention to support streaming-level commissioning. The public purse is tight. So we need to do more with what we already have—and coordinate it better.

Our sector is rich in talent but poor in infrastructure. We are known for our creators, but we undersell our IP. Without reinvestment, repeatable success stories become just stories. Not strategy. this is my argument as to why the DCMS Facing the Axe is justified.

Who This Is Really For

While the UK’s largest production companies—Fremantle, ITV Studios, BBC Studios, Banijay UK—continue to thrive globally, they do so with scale, internal infrastructure, and existing global partnerships.

They are, in many ways, their own export machines.

But this proposal isn’t about regulating or replicating them. It’s about leveling the field for small and medium-sized creative businesses—the 10-person indie developing its first original drama, the regional game studio with a playable prototype, the audio producer sitting on exportable IP but no route to international markets.

These are the businesses that often:

Lack access to international buyers
Can’t afford IP legal guidance
Have no presence at global markets
Need co-production financing to reach the next stage

A centralized Creative Content Export Authority would not compete with the big players—it would support the next generation of them.

Final Thought is the DCMS Facing the Axe?

This isn’t about pointing fingers. It’s about pointing forward.

We’re not broken—but we’re disjointed. And in a global market where formats are billion-pound assets and franchises span platforms, we can’t afford to be.

A Creative Content Export Authority isn’t a radical idea. It’s a practical one.

Let’s make Britain not just a place where creative work is made—but where it’s scaled, sold, and seen around the world.

“Some may fear that a new agency means more red tape or regulation. That’s not what’s being proposed. This is not about limiting anyone—it’s about unlocking growth where it’s currently being lost. The UK’s leading indies and super-indies already know how to win on the global stage. The challenge is: who’s helping the rest?”

Jonathan Glazier

Axing of the DCMS: An Opportunity