Member

Amendment 286 asks the Prime Minister to designate a specific Minister responsible for the impact of this Act on creative industries and freelancers. In effect, it would create a creative employment portfolio cutting across departments. This is needed because no single Minister currently champions the unique intersection of culture and labour. DCMS Ministers care about cultural policy and funding; BEIS Ministers handle employment rights. In practice, many arts workers have fallen through the cracks. During the pandemic, for example, creative freelancers were initially left out of the coronavirus job retention scheme entirely, a fact BECTU lamented as devastating for those suddenly without support. This happened largely because no one Minister was listening to them.