Nationally, the sector contributed £34.6 million to the UK economy in 2019.67 We therefore challenged the Department about its role in overseeing the business aspects of the sector and what it was doing to build the sector including exploiting its export potential. The Department told us there was “food for thought” in how it built on some of the new links it had developed, including with the more commercial end of the arts sector. It considered that the Department and its Ministers were “the biggest cheerleaders for the creative industries across Government”. It told us it was very proud of the sector’s successes and was committed to promoting the significance of the creative industries as an export industry and for regional economic growth.68 65 Qq 67–69 66 Qq 69, 70, 73 67 C&AG’s report, para 2 68 Qq 74, 79 16 COVID 19: Culture Recovery Fund