General Election 2024 – Party Manifesto Pledges for Culture

With less than a week to go before the General Election on 4 July, the Party Manifestos have now all been published.

As we noted in our previous briefing, shortly after the election was announced, culture is a devolved matter in Scotland meaning most policy making and funding for culture are the responsibility of the Scottish Government.

Most of the Scottish branches of the political parties have produced their own Scottish Manifestos, many of which include a section on culture or some reference to it. We have drawn together the main references to culture, heritage and creative industries and key pledges that could impact the sector if each party was elected, and included additional pledges from UK Manifestos which could have a bearing on cultural policy in Scotland.

  • Manifesto pledges to:

    Access

    • reopen heritage sites that have remained closed since the pandemic.

    • reverse SNP cuts to Visit Scotland Information centres to promote local tourism.

    • make the most of the opportunities of AI and its applications for creativity in the future.

    Skills and education

    • ensure that music education is a core part of the national curriculum

    Funding

    • support museums and libraries across the country.

    • work with individuals, businesses, charities and other networks to find opportunities to further leverage philanthropy for good causes and cultural institutions.

    • complete the review of Gift Aid within the next Parliament.

    • ensure creative sector tax incentives remain competitive.

    • ensure creators are properly protected and remunerated for their work, whilst also

    • extend schemes which improve communities and support infrastructure as well as sports and cultural activities across the UK including the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Long Term plan for Towns and Community Ownership Fund

    • oppose the rollout of the SNP’s tourism tax

    • suspend the SNP’s short-term lets licensing scheme and until a full review can take place and work with councils to develop a new approach to balance local housing needs.

    Broadcasting

    • consider the findings of the Funding Review ahead of the next Royal Charter and ensure it upholds the principles of diversity of thought, accuracy and impartiality as its guiding principles.

    • introduce a new complaints process for the BBC, so the BBC does not mark its own homework.

    • committed to freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

    Freelancers

    UK Conservatives pledge to:

    • abolish the 9% National Insurance main rate for the self-employed 

    • promote digital invoicing 

    • improve enforcement of the Prompt Payment Code

  • Manifesto pledges to:

    Broadcasting

    • ensure nationally important sporting and cultural events, like international football matches and the Eurovision song contest, are available via free to-view public broadcasters.

    Funding

    • support the campaign led by Palestinian civil society for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against the state of Israel, including a boycott of Israeli goods and services and an academic, sporting and cultural boycott.

    The UK Greens Manifesto

    Pledges to:

    • fight for more money to support arts and culture

    • propose a range of changes to VAT, reducing it on hard-pressed areas such as hospitality and the arts.

    • insist on the protection of the Intellectual Property of artists, writers and musicians and other creators.

    • invest an extra £5bn over 5 years for local government spending on arts and culture to fund keeping local museums, theatres, libraries and art galleries open and thriving

    • ensure that musicians have access to visa free travel to the EU through negotiating a reciprocal arrangement at the earliest possible opportunity.

    Freelancers

    • bring the Prompt Payment Code into law 

    • bar late payers from public-procurement contracts 

    • mandate the Small Business Commissioner to investigate potential instances of poor payment proactively, instead of only when a complaint has been made 

    • establish equal employment rights for all workers from their first day of employment, including those in the ‘gig economy’ and on zero-hours contracts. 

    • deny operating licenses to gig employers that repeatedly break employment, data protection or tax law  

    The UK Greens are the only party to put a figure on additional investment in culture which they pledge to local government. We would presume that some of this would be distributed to the other UK nations which could have a considerable impact.

  • Manifesto pledges to:

    Access

    • make sure the arts and music will no longer be the preserve of a privileged few.

    • increase access to music, drama, and sport by introducing new UK-wide consumer protections on ticket resales.

    • ensure the Edinburgh festivals form part of a wider plan to treat creative industries as an economic asset and to promote tourism so they can continue to attract investment and be enjoyed by generations to come.

    Skills and education

    • implement their sector plan for the creative industries, creating good jobs and accelerating growth in film, music, gaming, and other creative sectors.

    • develop clearer career paths in the sector and take steps to encourage investment in Scottish creatives.

    • expand the provision of music tuition through a national online support platform so that all children have the chance to learn these skills.

    Broadcasting

    • work with the BBC and our other public service broadcasters so they continue to inform, educate and entertain people.

    • support the creative economy by commissioning distinctive Scottish and UK content.

    Freelancers

    UK Labour pledges to:

    • Take action on late payments to ensure small businesses and the self-employed are paid on time 

    • Implement their new deal plan for working people – introducing legislation banning zero hours contracts; ending fire and rehire; and introducing basic rights from day one to parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal. They would consult with businesses, workers, and civil society on how to put these plans into practice before legislation is passed. 

  • Manifesto pledges to:

    Access

    • support creative and tourism industries across the UK so that businesses can thrive, and people everywhere can enjoy the benefits of sports, music and the arts.

    • upgrade the status of tourism and government with a dedicated Minister of State for Tourism and Hospitality.

    • maintain free access to national museums and galleries.

    • protect fans from being exploited by ticket types by implementing the Competition and Markets Authority’s recommendations to crack down on illegal ticket resale.

    • negotiate free and simple short term travel arrangements for UK artists to perform in the EU and European artists to perform in the UK.

    • established Creative Enterprise Zones to grow and regenerate the cultural output of areas across the UK.

    Skills and education

    • promote creative skills, address the barriers to finance faced by small businesses, and support modern and flexible patent, copyright and licensing rules.

    Funding

    • protect arts funding via the National Lottery.

    • invest in the cultural capital and nurture the next generation of talent.

    • boost funding for cultural and creative projects by applying to participate fully in Creative Europe.

    Broadcasting

    • protect the BBC, S4C, BBC Alba and Channel 4 as independent, publicly owned public service broadcasters.

    • support independent Leveson compliant regulation to ensure privacy, quality, diversity and choice in both print and online media and proceed with Part Two of the Leveson Inquiry.

    • support the BBC both to provide impartial news and information and to take a leading role in increasing media literacy and educating all generations in tackling the impact of fake news.

    • require at least 80% on demand TV content to be subtitled, 10% audio described and 5% signed.

    • pass a comprehensive ‘Anti-SLAPP Law’ to provide robust protection for free speech, whistleblowers and media scrutiny against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.

    Freelancers

    UK Liberal Democrats pledge to:

    • establish a new ‘dependent contractor’ employment status in between employment and self-employment, with entitlements to basic rights such as minimum earnings levels, sick pay and holiday entitlement 

    • review IR35 reforms to ensure self-employed people are treated fairly 

    • review pension rules to protect portability between roles and address gig economy  

  • Manifesto pledges to:

    Skills and education

    • (through independence), rejoin the EU enabling re-entry to the Erasmus+ scheme, widening educational opportunities for Scotland’s future generations

    Funding

    • (through rejoining the EU) deliver access to the Creative Europe scheme supporting culture sector cooperation and boosting economic potential of creative industries

    • call for three–year detailed spending plans – to support planning and improve clarity for devolved administrations

    Broadcasting

    • devolve broadcasting powers to enable broadcasters who have a public service remit to better meet the interests of Scottish audiences.

    • support increased investment in Scottish broadcasting. Until devolved, we will continue to push all public service broadcasters to invest a far fairer share of spending on production in Scotland.

    • give Gaelic broadcasting a statutory parity of esteem with Welsh language broadcasting. The UK Government must rectify the disparity between Gaelic and Welsh language caused by the recent Media Bill and ensure proportional funding for BBC Alba.

    • include major Scottish national team matches on the list of sporting events for free-to-air channels, ensuring no financial detriment to the game while guaranteeing parity of access for all.

Hustings

If you want to hear more about what the parties had to say on culture, two hustings’ events have been held in the last couple of weeks:

Policy PositionsJoseph Peach