A Conservative government would increase National Lottery-funded spending on film by 10%, shadow cultural secretary Jeremy Hunt told the Screen International UK Film Finance Summit.

He said the oppositon - currently leading the government in opinion polls - was committed to the creative sector.

'We recognise that the film industry is extremely important,' he told delegates to the annual conference in London.

What's more, Hunt said the party recognised that the free market alone could not support a diverse film industry and supported the existing incentives for production.

A Conservative government would not alter the country's tax credit system and would look at increasing National Lottery contributions to film, he said.

The commitment to additional expenditure came from the party's already expressed commitment to return National Lottery funding to its core purpose of supporting the arts heritage, grass-roots sports and charities.

'That would mean 10% more money going into film from the National Lottery.'

Hunt also said he understood the key role of supporting distribution of film to maximise audiences.

'The challenge is as much about the flow of production as the volume ofm production.'

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