Creative UK and music APPG issue proposals to support touring for UK creative industries post-Brexit 8 Aug 2022

In a new paper for its members, ‘Creativity without Limits: Maximising the post-Brexit potential of the Creative Industries’, Creative UK has given an overview of changes it recommends to improve the working environment of a sector with a strong international dimension. It comments that “while the UK’s departure from the EU offers greater national regulatory flexibility, these benefits are yet to outweigh the financial, administrative and legal burdens for the sector.” Its points include:

• Although there is provision for visa free travel for up to 90 days in any 180 day period to the EU, this is not sufficient for creatives. One way forward would be a Visa Waiver Agreement of the sort that already exists between the EU and some third countries, specifically for those in creative occupations.
• It is vital to enter into urgent negotiation with member states that do not currently offer work permits or waivers.
• The Home Office and HMRC should improve wait times for visas.
• The creation of a Creative Support Fund with financial support for those unable to absorb additional costs in entering new markets.
• There should be improved movement of goods, including better information for border officers on processes and procedures; a cultural waiver for road haulage limits; an UK-EU Carnet exemption to reduce the burden on cultural organisations moving goods without sale; and the designation of Eurostar as a CITES port, so that goods like musical instruments can be moved freely and affordably.
• Future Trade Agreements must also enshrine, protect and/or improve the UK’s robust IP framework.

Data shows that Brexit has been particularly tough on musicians, with the number of UK artists booked for European festivals this summer down by 45% compared to 2017 - 19. Kevin Brennan MP, Chair of the new, 100 strong, All Party Parliamentary Group on Music, has launched the APPG's new report ‘Let the Music Move - A New Deal for Touring’. It calls for a ‘touring Tsar’ to deal with issues faced by touring cultural workers, and to orchestrate the current ‘discordant and confusing cacophony of regulation and red tape’. It also calls on Government to set up a Cultural Touring Agreement and a Transitional Support Fund to help UK music exporters deal with increased costs of trading in Europe post-Brexit. Creative UK, The House magazine, APPG for Music (full report), Music Week, Sky News, BBC