As the committee dissolves, the UK film and high-end television inquiry will be put on hold indefinitely.

The UK’s Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) committee’s inquiry into the territory’s film and high-end TV (HETV) sector has been paused indefinitely in light of the upcoming general election.

As is the case with most parliamentary committees, it was dissolved on May 30 following the announcement of the general election by prime minister Rishi Sunak and the dissolution of parliament.

The UK general election will take place on July 4.

The committee will be re-assembled with new members at the start of the next parliament who will decide whether to continue on with the inquiry.

The existing committee did not reach the stage of publishing a report with its findings, and therefore all the transcripts of the oral sessions and written evidence will be available for the next iteration of the committee.

Global hub

In July 2023, the inquiry was launched to look at what can be done to maintain the UK’s status as a global hub for international production and how independent producers and the struggling exhibition sector can best be supported.

The film and TV industries have been faced with an onslaught of challenges amid a tough economic climate and Hollywood strikes grinding UK production to a halt. A total of 130 individuals and companies submitted written evidence, and the likes of Picturehouse’s Clare Binns, Vue’s Tim Richards, directors Gurinder Chadha and James Hawes, producers Jane Tranter and Rebecca O’Brien, BBC Film and Film4 heads Eva Yates and Ollie Madden, Pact’s John McVay, UK Cinema Association’s Phil Clapp and Film Distributors’ Association’s Andy Leyshon giving oral evidence before the committee.

Major talking points in both the written evidence and the oral sessions included the skills crisis, artificial intelligence and the need for an enhanced tax relief for lower-budgeted UK film productions. The Independent Film Tax Credit was introduced in March. The letter was addressed to Lucy Frazer, the current secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and urged her to revisit the work done so far. We’ve heard that the UK could have mitigated these challenges if it had a stronger independent sector in the UK and was less dependent on inward production. We believe this warrants further investigation.

“We are also deeply concerned about skills, working conditions, and the retention of staff in the industry. We need to tackle these issues more, as failure to do so will affect our ability to attract productions and staff them in the future. Given the huge value that film and HETV contributes, and the deep questions that remain about its resilience, we strongly urge our successor Committee to revisit the evidence we have received and continue scrutiny of this vital industry.”

Committees are made up of back-bench MPs, with the membership of the committees reflecting the party balance in the House of Commons. Members are selected by their own party MPs. The UK parliamentary committee chair allocation reflects the balance of parties in the House of Commons. The film and high-end television industry is a global success story, and one of the UK’s most respected and recognised industries. Yet it faces considerable uncertainty.

Investment boomed after the pandemic, but fell dramatically last year leaving studios empty, crews out of work and cinemas questioning how to programme their screens. We’ve heard that the UK could have mitigated these challenges if it had a stronger independent sector in the UK and was less dependent on inward production. We believe this warrants further investigation.

We are also deeply concerned about skills, working conditions, and the retention of staff in the industry. We need to do more to tackle these issues. Failure to do so will affect our ability to attract productions and staff them in the future.

We started our inquiry in July last year, in the middle of these challenges, and we have received extensive engagement since then. We were able to influence the government to introduce an independent film credit in March of this year, thanks to our early recommendation. This was a move that was widely welcomed by the industry. We also thank Nick Mason Pearson and Dominic Lees, who served as expert advisors to the inquiry.