The Government is reviewing its categorisation of the and is planning to drop Craft as a classification and merge Design and Designer Fashion into one group. These new classifications would form the basis of Government research into the value of the creative industries.
The most recent research, published by the in 2011, showed that the creative industries contributed £36.3 billion to the UK economy, or 2.89 per cent of gross value added. Of this, contributed £1.6 billion, or 0.13 of GVA.
However, DCMS now says the classifications on which it bases this research is flawed, and is proposing to bring in a new methodology. This would see Craft dropped as a Classification, while Design and are being merged to form a new classification.
DCMS says this merger is due to “a limitation in the underlying classifications in the source data that designer fashion can’t be separated out from other activity”.
John Mathers, chief executive of the , says: “It is too early to say whether the proposed classification of Design and Designer Fashion may be too narrow and we will work with DCMS and Nesta to ensure the range of industries included in this classification (graphic design, , etc.) are given accurate representation.”
Consultation on the DCMS proposals is open until 14 June.
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