Bectu responds to today’s Winter Budget announcement

Head of Bectu Philippa Childs said reacting to today’s Winter Budget:

“This Budget was always going to be difficult, and while we are pleased to see action for those on the lowest incomes, the government has once again largely overlooked self-employed and freelance workers.

“Low pay is a very real issue for many of the highly skilled workers who prop up our creative industries, so the minimum wage increases are welcome. As is the rise in the state pension, which will benefit many creative workers, not least those who are self-employed and so ineligible for auto enrolment.

“However, this benefit may be undercut for the self-employed, who will be caught by many of the tax and benefit changes proposed such as taxing dividends and savings incomes and the cash ISA restrictions. The same people, while paying more tax, continue to be denied basic rights like sick pay, parental leave and pensions and will miss out on the government’s flagship worker protections.

“The government has exempted over-65s from the cash ISA changes – these should also be extended to the self-employed, many of whom rely on ISAs for retirement savings.

“Freelancers hold up the UK’s world leading creative industries – a £100 billion growth sector that is a priority of the industrial strategy. If the Budget is to be fair, it must extend genuine protections and support to the self-employed, levelling the playing field for those who power Britain’s cultural success.”