Bectu responds to British Film and High-End TV CMS Committee report
Head of Bectu Philippa Childs, responding to the Culture, Media and Sport select committee report British Film and High-End Television, said:
“We welcome this timely and incisive report from the Committee which identifies many of the urgent challenges currently facing the industry and its workforce. It takes account of the evidence provided by Bectu in a number of its recommendations.
“Freelancers are the backbone of this sector and the attention paid in this report to their contribution and how better to support and protect them is very refreshing. The report recognises that increasingly precarious and unpredictable work is unsustainable. Failing to address the issues these challenges could result in the industry losing workers at a time when the Government have made wider commitments to employment rights and prioritised the creative industries within its industrial strategy. We urge the government to accept the recommendations to better support freelancers, in particular the committee’s support for the creation of a freelance commissioner which Bectu and other stakeholders have consistently argued for. This would be a vehicle for finding solutions to many of the issues facing freelancers such as intermittent work which can lead and has already led to financial crises for many Bectu members.
“We have seen how power imbalances within the industry can enable a toxic culture. Those affected by bulling and harassment are often afraid to speak out for fear of being seen as a troublemaker, damaging their reputation and losing work. As the report says, the formation of CIISA is a huge step in the right direction, but it must have the full financial backing of industry with a commitment from government to step in should this not materialise.”
Head of Bectu Philippa Childs quoted in the report on the situation facing the creative industries: “Given the economic importance of this industry to the UK economy, how can it be right that the workforce have to rely on charity?”