Improve Access to Arts, Music, and Sport
Labour · what the evidence says
An independent, source-checked look at Labour’s policy “Improve Access to Arts, Music, and Sport” — what it would actually do across the things that affect your life. Every claim below quotes the source behind it. How this works.
Prosperity & living standards — Helps
minor · low confidence
The creative industries sector plan targets real job and investment growth in a sector already worth £124 billion to the UK economy, but most other measures — arts education, music networks, ticket resale rules, football governance — are either aspirational or affect living standards only indirectly and at the margins. The long-term gains depend heavily on whether sector investment targets actually materialise.
The evidence
- The creative industries already generate £124 billion in GVA and support 2.3 million jobs across the UK. — cedos.org (media) — “The creative industries are a significant contributor to the UK economy, generating £124 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) and supporting 2.3 million jobs across the UK”
- The sector's GVA grew 5% in real terms between 2019 and 2022, outpacing the overall economy's 2% growth. — labour.org.uk (media) — “The sector's value increased by 5% in real terms between 2019 and 2022, outperforming the overall economy's 2% growth”
- The creative sector accounts for a high share of business R&D, at 11.5% of all business R&D in 2018. — pec.ac.uk (academic) — “The sector also sees high levels of R&D investment, representing 11.5% of all business R&D in 2018, up from under 8% in 2009”
- The policy commits to implementing a creative industries sector plan to create jobs and growth. — labour.org.uk (manifesto) — “Labour will implement their creative industries sector plan to create jobs and growth”
- Business investment in the sector is targeted to double from £17 billion to £31 billion by 2035. — pec.ac.uk (academic) — “Business investment in the sector is targeted to double from £17 billion to £31 billion by 2035”
- The sector plan aims to accelerate innovation-led growth, secure finance for creative start-ups, build a resilient workforce, and increase trade and inward investment. — cedos.org (media) — “The plan aims to accelerate innovation-led growth, secure finance for creative start-ups, build a resilient workforce, and increase trade and inward investment”
- 67% of the sector's GVA is concentrated in London and the South East, indicating regional economic opportunity is uneven. — cedos.org (media) — “there are regional disparities, with 67% of the sector's GVA generated in London and the South East”
- OBR and other analysts note potential challenges from real-term reductions in household income impacting consumer spending on cultural activities, which could constrain sector growth. — pec.ac.uk (academic) — “the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and other analysts often consider the broader economic context, noting potential challenges like real-term reductions in household income impacting consumer spending on cultural…”
- Music education funding has fallen in real terms — £76.1 million in 2024/25 versus an inflation-adjusted equivalent of £127 million in 2009/10 — with funding static for five years. — musicmark.org.uk (media) — “£82.5 million was allocated to music education beyond the classroom, equivalent to £127 million today, compared to £76.1 million in 2024/25, which has been static for five years”
- There is concern about a gap between the ambition of the National Music Education Network and the funding required to achieve its goals. — musicmark.org.uk (media) — “There is a concern about the potential gap between the ambition of this network and the funding required to achieve its goals, particularly after years of under-investment and missed teacher recruitment targets”
- The policy commits to reforming football governance by establishing an independent regulator to ensure financial sustainability and prevent closed leagues. — labour.org.uk (manifesto) — “Labour will also reform football governance by establishing an independent regulator to ensure financial sustainability and prevent closed leagues”
Biggest unknown: Whether business investment in the creative industries actually doubles to £31 billion by 2035 as targeted, and whether education and skills measures translate into measurable productivity and opportunity gains at population scale.
Our reading: The creative industries sector plan addresses a part of the economy that already punches above its weight — £124 billion GVA, strong R&D intensity, and faster growth than the wider economy in recent years. A targeted sector plan including investment facilitation, workforce development, trade promotion, and finance for start-ups has a plausible mechanism for lifting productivity and economic opportunity, and the investment doubling target (£17bn to £31bn) is material if met. On this basis the policy points toward an improvement in O13, particularly over the long term. However, the investment target is a projection with no binding delivery mechanism cited, and the OBR and other analysts flag demand-side headwinds. Most of the remaining measures — arts education support, a music information network, museum loans, and ticket resale rules — are either aspirational (soft-verb commitments or information-only interventions) or deliver consumer welfare gains too narrow to move aggregate living standards indicators at population scale. The football regulator aims at financial sustainability within the sport rather than broader economic growth, though preventing club collapses preserves community assets. Regional concentration of creative sector GVA in London and the South East means productivity gains may not spread evenly, limiting impact on economic opportunity and mobility nationally. The net verdict is a minor, long-term improvement, conditional almost entirely on whether the sector investment target materialises and whether the skills pipeline follows through — both genuinely uncertain.
Community cohesion & belonging — Helps
minor · moderate confidence
The policy's grassroots sports funding, community museum loans, and football governance reforms all strengthen shared civic and cultural life at local level — the most direct community-cohesion levers. The main caveat is that the music education network and arts curriculum elements are largely informational or review-based, limiting their near-term cohesion impact.
The evidence
- Policy commits to supporting grassroots clubs in expanding access to sport — labour.org.uk (manifesto) — “support grassroots clubs”
- Policy requires publicly funded national museums and galleries to increase loans to communities — labour.org.uk (manifesto) — “Publicly funded national museums and galleries will be required to increase loans to communities”
- Policy establishes an independent football regulator to ensure financial sustainability and give fans a greater say — labour.org.uk (manifesto) — “reform football governance by establishing an independent regulator to ensure financial sustainability and prevent closed leagues”
- Almost 1,000 community projects are already benefiting from new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities, with £85 million of further funding planned for 2026/27 as part of a £400 million long-term investment — stephenmorgan.org.uk (media) — “almost 1,000 community projects across the UK are already benefiting from new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities, with £85 million of further funding planned for 2026/27 as part of a £400 million long-term investme…”
- At least half of the grassroots sport funding is directed to the 30% most deprived communities — stephenmorgan.org.uk (media) — “At least half of this funding is directed to the 30% most deprived communities”
- There has been a real-terms drop in grassroots sport funding of over 47% since 2010 — theguardian.com (media) — “real-terms drop of over 47% from £1.24 billion in 2010 to £657 million in 2019/20”
- 67% of the creative sector's GVA is generated in London and the South East, indicating regional cultural imbalance — cedos.org (media) — “67% of the sector's GVA generated in London and the South East”
- The museum loans policy is generally welcomed as addressing regional imbalances in cultural provision — theartnewspaper.com (media) — “The policy is generally welcomed by those hoping to address regional imbalances in cultural provision”
- The football regulator's overall aim is to protect clubs, ensure financial resilience across the leagues, and give fans a greater say — osborneclarke.com (media) — “The overall aim is to protect clubs, ensure financial resilience across the leagues, and give fans a greater say”
- The National Music Education Network is an information hub only; concern exists about the gap between ambition and funding required — musicmark.org.uk (media) — “concern about the potential gap between the ambition of this network and the funding required to achieve its goals, particularly after years of under-investment and missed teacher recruitment targets”
- GCSE arts subject entries have fallen 47%, with creative subjects increasingly the preserve of those whose parents can afford extra-curricular activities — campaignforthearts.org (media) — “47% drop in entries to GCSE arts subjects”
Biggest unknown: Whether grassroots sport facilities and club support translate into sustained participation and inter-group contact gains, or whether take-up remains concentrated in already-organised communities.
Our reading: O15 turns on social trust, civic participation, shared cultural and sporting life, and sense of belonging. This policy touches several of those levers directly. The most concrete cohesion mechanism is the £400 million grassroots sport investment — already delivering community facility upgrades — with at least half targeted at the 30% most deprived communities. This directly reverses a documented 47% real-terms funding decline and channels shared physical activity into communities where it is most scarce, both classic routes to local belonging and inter-group contact. The requirement for national museums and galleries to loan collections to communities across the country is a mandatory, deliverable instrument that addresses the stark regional concentration of cultural GVA in London and the South East; broader access to shared cultural assets is a credible cohesion input. The independent football regulator, by protecting lower-league clubs from financial collapse and giving fans a greater formal voice, safeguards an institution that in many towns is a primary source of community identity and cross-class civic participation. Absent this policy, continued club instability and declining grassroots sport provision would plausibly erode those anchors further. The ticket resale reforms are a minor positive for fan affordability and fairness, with modest but real cohesion relevance. Countervailing the picture: the National Music Education Network is explicitly an information hub, and cited evidence flags real concerns about under-funding relative to ambition — so its near-term cohesion contribution is limited. The arts curriculum changes are review-based and long-cycle. On balance the committed instruments — grassroots sport funding, museum loan mandates, football governance — are real, population-scale mechanisms with plausible cohesion effects, earning a minor improvement verdict with moderate confidence. The magnitude is minor rather than moderate because most of the cultural education elements are aspirational or review-led, and the sport/museum measures, while genuine, are not transformative at national scale.
Good work & fair pay — Helps
minor · low confidence
This policy aims to grow jobs in the creative industries and improve the financial stability of football clubs, but most of the job-creation targets are distant forecasts and many education measures are aspirational rather than funded commitments. The real-world effect on pay and job security for ordinary workers is likely to be modest and slow to materialise.
The evidence
- The policy commits to implementing a creative industries sector plan to create jobs and growth. — labour.org.uk (manifesto) — “Labour will implement their creative industries sector plan to create jobs and growth”
- The creative industries already support 2.4 million jobs in 2024-25, with nearly 30% being self-employed — a higher self-employment rate than the wider economy. — thecreativeindustries.co.uk (media) — “In 2024-25, official data estimated 2.4 million creative industry jobs, with nearly 30% being self-employed”
- Self-employment in creative industries stands at 28%, compared to 14% across the entire UK workforce, indicating a structurally less secure workforce. — pec.ac.uk (academic) — “28% of creative industries employment was self-employment from April 2024 to March 2025, compared to 14% across the entire UK workforce”
- The sector has significant regional concentration, with 67% of GVA generated in London and the South East, limiting job benefits for most of the country. — cedos.org (media) — “67% of the sector's GVA generated in London and the South East”
- Business investment in the sector is targeted to double from £17 billion to £31 billion by 2035, which could support further job growth. — pec.ac.uk (academic) — “Business investment in the sector is targeted to double from £17 billion to £31 billion by 2035”
- The policy proposes an independent football regulator to ensure financial sustainability and prevent closed leagues. — labour.org.uk (manifesto) — “reform football governance by establishing an independent regulator to ensure financial sustainability and prevent closed leagues”
- The regulator will have powers to impose financial sanctions and intervene in revenue distribution, including reducing parachute payments to address competitive distortions in lower leagues. — osborneclarke.com (media) — “removes a previous carve-out for 'parachute' payments, giving the regulator power to assess and potentially reduce these payments to address competitive distortions in lower leagues”
- New ticket resale protections would cap resale prices at face value and ban bulk reselling, addressing a market where most tickets were found to carry mark-ups of over 50%. — vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com (media) — “most tickets sold on two major resale websites had a mark-up of over 50% above face value, with some investigations uncovering resales at up to six times the original cost”
- There is concern about a gap between ambitions and funding, particularly in music education, after years of under-investment and missed recruitment targets. — musicmark.org.uk (media) — “concern about the potential gap between the ambition of this network and the funding required to achieve its goals, particularly after years of under-investment and missed teacher recruitment targets”
Biggest unknown: Whether the creative industries sector plan's investment and job targets will be delivered at scale, and whether new jobs will be accessible to workers outside London and the South East.
Our reading: The creative industries sector plan is the main lever for O4. The sector already employs 2.4 million people and has outgrown the wider economy, but a striking 28% of those workers are self-employed — double the national rate — meaning many lack the security and protections that define 'good work'. The plan targets a doubling of business investment by 2035, which could generate additional employment, but this is a contested forecast over a decade, not a near-term delivered mechanism. Crucially, 67% of sector GVA is concentrated in London and the South East, so job gains would likely be geographically skewed, limiting population-scale improvement in fair pay for most workers. The football governance reform could modestly improve job security for workers in lower-league clubs by improving financial resilience and redistributing revenue more equitably. This is a concrete statutory instrument (a Bill) with enforcement powers, so it has more delivery credibility than aspirational commitments, but its reach is limited to a specific sector. Ticket resale protections primarily benefit fans as consumers (O2 territory) rather than workers, though they address exploitative market conditions. The education commitments (arts, PE, music network) are long-term pipeline investments in workforce skills, not near-term labour market interventions. The music education network is explicitly a signposting service with no confirmed budget uplift — below the threshold for a delivered mechanism. Absent this policy, the creative sector would continue growing but with high self-employment insecurity and regional concentration. The policy's marginal effect on employment quality and pay — the O4 core indicators — is real but modest and slow: hence 'improves/minor/long-term' at low confidence, with delivery risk the dominant caveat.
Education & opportunity — Helps
minor · low confidence
This policy protects PE time, backs creative subjects in the curriculum, and invests in grassroots sport facilities — all of which address real documented declines. But several key planks (the music network, curriculum review) are information services or reviews rather than funded interventions, limiting the likely scale of improvement.
The evidence
- The policy commits to supporting children to study creative or vocational subjects until age 16 and protecting PE time. — labour.org.uk (manifesto) — “support children to study creative or vocational subjects until age 16, protect time for physical education”
- A National Music Education Network will be created as an information hub for courses and classes. — labour.org.uk (manifesto) — “A new National Music Education Network will provide information on courses and classes”
- Publicly funded national museums and galleries will be required to increase loans to communities. — labour.org.uk (manifesto) — “Publicly funded national museums and galleries will be required to increase loans to communities”
- GCSE arts entries have fallen by 47%, indicating a serious baseline decline in arts education access. — campaignforthearts.org (media) — “a 47% drop in entries to GCSE arts subjects”
- Music education funding in 2024/25 is £76.1 million, static for five years and well below the £127 million equivalent from 2009/10. — musicmark.org.uk (media) — “£76.1 million in 2024/25, which has been static for five years”
- A previous Labour PE target of two hours per week saw over 90% participation by 2010. — sportsthinktank.com (media) — “a target previously introduced by a Labour government that saw over 90% participation by 2010”
- Almost 1,000 community projects are already benefiting from grassroots sport investment, with £85 million further funding planned for 2026/27 as part of a £400 million long-term plan. — stephenmorgan.org.uk (media) — “almost 1,000 community projects across the UK are already benefiting from new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities, with £85 million of further funding planned for 2026/27 as part of a £400 million long-term investme…”
- At least half of grassroots sport funding targets the 30% most deprived communities. — stephenmorgan.org.uk (media) — “At least half of this funding is directed to the 30% most deprived communities”
- There is concern that the music network's ambition may not be matched by the funding needed after years of under-investment. — musicmark.org.uk (media) — “concern about the potential gap between the ambition of this network and the funding required to achieve its goals, particularly after years of under-investment and missed teacher recruitment targets”
- Museum loan increases are generally welcomed as addressing regional cultural imbalances, but no scale or mechanism beyond a requirement is specified. — theartnewspaper.com (media) — “The policy is generally welcomed by those hoping to address regional imbalances in cultural provision”
Biggest unknown: Whether a curriculum review and a music information network translate into real restoration of arts and music provision depends on funding commitments that are not yet specified.
Our reading: The policy addresses genuinely documented weaknesses in O7: arts GCSE entries have collapsed 47%, music education funding is below 2009 levels in real terms, and grassroots sport funding was cut sharply under previous governments. Against this backdrop, even modest protective measures have real value. The strongest concrete element is the grassroots sport investment: £400 million over the long term, already in delivery, with at least half directed to the most deprived communities — a mechanism that is funded and active, not merely aspirational. The PE commitment also has historical precedent: an identical two-hours target reached 90%+ participation by 2010, suggesting the mechanism is deliverable. The curriculum support for creative and vocational subjects is positive in intent but relies on an 'expert-led review' rather than a funded commitment — this is a soft-verb instrument with no statutory duty or ring-fenced budget, so its effect cannot confidently be projected as material at scale. The National Music Education Network is explicitly described as an information service ('provide information on courses and classes'), not a funding stream. Given that music education's main problem is under-investment (£76m vs £127m in real terms), an information hub does not address the root cause. Music bodies welcome it as signalling intent, but flag the funding gap explicitly. Museum loans to communities require action from national institutions, which is a genuine lever for geographic equity in cultural access, but its effect on school-age attainment or skills access is indirect and unquantified. Overall: the policy delivers some genuine incremental improvement — particularly through grassroots sport with an equity weighting and PE protection — but does not substantially reverse the structural decline in arts and music education. Several planks are information or review mechanisms without committed budgets. The direction is 'improves' but the magnitude is minor and confidence is low given the funding uncertainties.