The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
HM Treasury
1 Horse Guards Road
London
SW1A 2HQ
Dear Chancellor,
We are writing as a collective group of organisations to ask that you stand by our highly valuable self-employed workforce, and urgently consider our proposal to help make this a reality.
Your package of support for employers and employees was unprecedented and welcome. However, it creates a worrying inequity between those who now have their income secured and the UK’s five million self-employed workers who are left despondent.
A third of the UK’s creative workforce are self-employed - higher than the national average of 15%. Our recent survey revealed that 60% of creative freelancers predict their income will more than halve in 2020, and over 50% of freelancers who responded to our snap poll have already had 100% of their work cancelled.
We have been working with IPSE - the representative body for the UK’s self-employed community - and over 40 trade and membership bodies and unions from across the creative industries to develop a solution, and would welcome the opportunity to constructively discuss this proposal, and other practical ideas, with you and your team as soon as possible.
We propose that the government creates a Temporary Income Protection Fund of £15bn to provide all self-employed workers with a monthly income matching their average existing earnings over the past three years, capped at average UK earnings after the basic rate of income tax and with a minimum monthly income of the Real Living Wage. There is now precedent for this across Europe.
Our self-employed workforce are a source of incredible creativity, agility, and innovation. It is vital that they receive support equal to employees and collectively explore, given this difficult time, how such talent could be employed and redeployed to help the national effort.
Yours sincerely,
Caroline Norbury
Chief Executive
Creative Industries Federation and Creative England
Support from individuals
Riz Ahmed, Actor
Imran Amed, The Business of Fashion
Sophie Bew, Editor, AnOther Magazine
Tim Blanks, The Business of Fashion
Zowie Broach, Head of Fashion Royal College
Danny Brocklehurst, Screenwriter
Simon Callow, Actor
Gurinder Chadha OBE, Director
Jeremy Dyson, Author
Susannah Frankel, Editor-in-Chief, AnOther
Stephen Fry
Alex Fury, Editor, AnOther
Andrea Gibb, Screenwriter
Katie Grand, LOVE Magazine
Tony Grounds, Playwright
Andy Harries, Chief Executive, LeftBank Pictures
Joanne Harris, Chair of the Society of Authors Management Committee
Imogen Heap, Recording artist, composer, Founder Mycelia for Music and MI.MU
Olivia Hetreed, Screenwriter
Chris Hibnall, Screenwriter
High Contrast, DJ
Angela Hill and David Owen, IDEA Books
Charles Jeffrey, Designer
Ellie Kendrick, Actress
Lucy Kirkwood, Playwright
Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director, Young Vic
Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Playwright
Tony Marchant, Playwright
Penny Martin, Editor, Gentlewoman
Lisa McGee, Screenwriter
Siobhan McSweeney, Actress
Ashley Pharoah, Screenwriter
Sir Philip Pullman, President of the Society of Authors
David Rowntree, Blur & Featured Artists Coalition Artist in Residence
Caroline Rush, CEO, BFC
Sandie Shaw MBE, Honorary President, Featured Artists Coalition
Nicola Shindler, Executive Producer, RED Production Company, CEO, StudioCanalUK
Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries
Bob and Roberta Smith, Artist
Jack Thorne, Screenwriter
Jodie Whittaker, Actress
Support from Sector Bodies
Animation UK
Arts Council Wales
Association of British Orchestras
Association of British Theatre Technicians
Association of Independent Music
Association of Photographers
AudioUK
BAPLA
BECTU
Bristol Media
British Arts Festival Association
British Association of Picture Libraries & Agencies
British Association of Screen Entertainment
British Beauty Council
British Fashion Council
British Fashion Models Agents Association
British Institute of Interior Design
Crafts Council
Creative & Cultural Skills
Creative United
Culture Counts
The Cultural Capital Exchange
DACS
Design Council
Digital Entertainment Group International
Directors UK
Equity
Fashion Roundtable
Featured Artists Coalition
Federation of Scottish Theatre
Film + TV Charity
Freelancers Club
Guild HE
Guild of Media Arts
Heritage Alliance
Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing
Independent Cinema Office
Independent Publishers Guild
ISM
Music Education Council
Music Managers Forum
Music Producers Guild
Music Publishers Association
Musicians’ Union
National Rural Touring Forum
OneDance UK
PICSEL
Professional Publishers Association
Publishers Association
Publishing Scotland
Rise - Women in Broadcast
Scottish Book Trust
Scottish Contemporary Art Network
ScreenSkills
Society of Authors
Society of British Theatre Designers
SOLT/UK Theatre
TAC
Tech London Advocates & Global Tech Advocates
UK Music
UK Screen Alliance
UKIE
Wales Arts International
Welsh Independent Producers - TAC
York UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts