On 6 March, the Chancellor announced his Spring Budget. Here, we summarise some of the key points which affect the creative and technology sectors.

Creative

For the creative industries, the main aim of the Budget seemed to be promoting growth via a tax relief package valued at over £1 billion over the next five years. This is in line with the Government's sector vision (published in June 2023) which set out its aims to grow the sector by an additional £50 billion in Gross Value Added and support one million more jobs across the UK. The key tax reliefs and funding initiatives (and the silence on the Video Games Expenditure Credit) are set out in our colleague Matt Rowbotham’s article here.

Technology

Less impressive were the announcements relating to digital technology and AI. In addition to some vague promises for future updates regarding access to the UK’s public compute facilities, the AI Safety Institute, and an SME Digital Adoption Taskforce which will investigate “how best to support the adoption of digital technology by SMEs”, the Government did promise some financial investment in the technology sector, including:

  • A new £7.4 million AI Upskilling Fund pilot to help SMEs develop AI skills.
  • £3.5 million to fund two new data pilots “to drive high quality AI in education and improve access to data in adult social care”.
  • £100 million investment in the Turing Institute over the next five years.
  • Launch of a consultation to “seek views on how best to implement the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and Amendments to the Common Reporting Standard”.

University spin-outs

At the Autumn Statement 2023, the UK government announced that it had accepted the recommendations in the review of university spin-outs. The Government is implementing the recommendations with the aim of boosting commercialisation across the UK’s university sector.  It has asked universities to report on their spin-out policies by the end of May.  In addition, it has started a consultation on the design of the new £20 million proof-of-concept fund to support universities and future founders to de-risk technology, and on a pilot approach to supporting the establishment by universities of shared Technology Transfer Offices.

Other changes of interest

The Government is also updating Gift Aid legislation due to the implications of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill.  The Bill introduces new rules for subscription contracts with consumers. Gift Aid legislation will be amended so that charities can continue to claim Gift Aid while complying with the new rules. The Government’s intention is that these amendments to the Gift Aid regime will be in place by the time the relevant provisions of the Bill come into force (which is currently planned to be October 2025).