Bectu urges DCMS to specify details of cultural bailout

Bectu has written to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport re-iterating the urgent need for a timeframe for how the £1.57bn cultural recovery package will be distributed.

Head of Bectu Philippa Childs wrote to Minister of State for Digital and Culture Caroline Dinenage to highlight the need for urgency following on from discussions Bectu is involved in.

Bectu, the union for workers and freelancers in the creative industries, sits on the Entertainment and Events Working Group, which is a sub-group of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce set up by the DCMS  aimed at getting leisure and recreation sectors up and running again.

In the letter sent on 14 July Childs asked the minister to publish information about timescales for loans and grants and the eligibility criteria to be able to apply for them.

Despite the announcement of the recovery package theatres are still pressing ahead with redundancy plans. Childs explained: “whilst Bectu officials have been arguing for a pause in these plans whilst details of the recovery package are developed and released.

“Unsurprisingly theatres are saying that they are unable to take that step without having some certainty about whether they will be eligible to access funds and therefore timing is critical.”

As well as highlighting the need for swift implementation, Childs also re-iterated the need for freelancers to be given access to substantial support.

“I would welcome any more information from the Department about any further measures being taken to support the creative freelancers who are the bedrock of the workforce in the sector.

“You will know that many are in a desperate situation having fallen outside the government support schemes, and the future of the sector is at risk if these workers are unable to stay in the creative industries for financial reasons”, she added.

Bectu represents thousands of workers and freelancers in theatre and live events who have been out of work since the start of the pandemic and still have no date on when theatres and events will be able to take place again – with the exception of outdoor events.

Prospect urges to Treasury to think creatively for freelancers

Separately, Mike Clancy, general secretary of Bectu’s parent union Prospect wrote to Rishi Sunak on 10 July. In the letter he highlighted the union’s deep frustration that so many freelancers are still unable to access any form of government support. The letter followed on from the economic statement that was made by the Chancellor on 8 July. The statement included a raft of measures to support the economy as the country emerges from the coronavirus lockdown, but once again freelancers were overlooked.

Clancy wrote: “It cannot be right that while so much public money is rightly invested in retained permanent employees, the army of freelancers and self-employed who are not covered by the schemes are left with nothing.”

He concluded his letter by urging the Treasury to think creatively to provide for the many freelancers who have fallen through the gaps and re-iterating that partnership has carried people through the pandemic and that spirit must be extended to freelancers.

“You know that we have suggested technical solutions to the design of the CJRS and SEISS schemes to your officials which would have provided support to these groups. We believe it is still not too late to act on these suggestions”, Clancy wrote.

“However if you remain convinced that these are unworkable then we would urge you to explore other creative ways of compensating these groups, for example through direct grants or through the tax system. We have made it so far through this crisis by working together – business, unions, the voluntary sector and government. This spirit of social partnership has been about providing the broadest shoulders to carry people through these difficult times. That same approach needs to be extended to freelancers and self-employed workers who are currently left behind.”