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The UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy is to bang the drum for more TV productions to be made out of London and the south-east, saying that it should shame the TV industry that it remains one of the most centralised in the UK.
In her first major speech on media and broadcasting, Nandy will later today (September 17) pose the question to TV leaders at the RTS London Convention as to why decision-making power remains predominantly in London.
“For all of the efforts made by many of you in this room, it should shame us all that television is one of the most centralised and exclusive industries in the UK. Because who tells the story determines the story that is told,” she will say.
“So I want to ask, if you aren’t commissioning content from every part of the country – towns and villages as well as major cities – why not?”
Nandy will point to the success of shows such as Peaky Blinders, which was made out of London using local cast and crew, creating jobs which in turn led to economic growth.
“Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not. And if you’ve moved jobs and people and content, but the heads of departments and commissioners are still in an office in London, do something about it,” she will urge.
She will add: “Frankly, if you don’t know why the film industry is so attracted to the beauty of Sunderland, or why the arts sector is buzzing in Bradford, or the potential to TV of the Welsh Valleys, it is most likely because you’ve never been there. And you have no right to call yourself a public service broadcaster.”
The culture secretary will acknowledge the difficulty of implementing such moves with the associated costs, but she said that they will ultimately have a long-term payoff. She also promised the government will do “everything [it] can to put rocket boosters under your efforts”.
Nandy will also highlight the power of TV to foster greater social cohesion and improve trust in media; she will point to the low numbers of people from working class backgrounds working in the industry as well as that 23% of commissions are made by companies outside of London.
She will tell the RTS audience: “Through us doing our bit and you doing yours. With a new relationship based on respect for one another. A television industry that leads the world and is the pride of all of Britain. Thriving well into the latter half of this century. That is what we will build, together.”
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