Employment Rights Bill

Viscount Colville of Culross Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 16th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Clement-Jones (LD)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as chair of Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society. I rise to speak to Amendments 301 and 302, which aim to provide vital protections for freelance workers in the UK. It was a pleasure to hear the introductions from the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, and the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, who set the scene extremely effectively.

The common theme is that the Bill take steps to modernise employment law but risks leaving a significant segment of our workforce behind. As we have heard from both out initial speakers, the UK’s freelance workforce is a powerful engine of our economy and culture, particularly in the creative industries. As both illustrated, the number of self- employed is not only rising rapidly, reaching 1 million now in the creative industries; but the actual proportion of those engaged in the creative industries, representing 32% of jobs within the creative sector, is an extraordinary figure.

Despite their immense contribution, however, freelancers currently lack a single clear voice representing their interests to government. This absence has led to a decline in pay and conditions, with nearly two thirds of freelancers reporting low or unfair pay in their careers, and an overwhelming majority impacted by late payments. As the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, mentioned, the Covid-19 pandemic starkly exposed their vulnerabilities, highlighting a lack of security, unequal access to opportunities and inadequate basic safety nets. These three amendments specifically address those critical issues.

A fundamental problem is the lack of a consistent legal definition for freelancers. Freelancing is not the same as self-employment, and freelancers often operate through a mixture of engagements, blurring the lines of employment status. This ambiguity creates uncertainty and can inadvertently exclude them from rights.

Amendment 301 proposes to insert a new section into the Employment Rights Act 1996, providing a clear definition: a freelancer is an

“individual who is engaged to work by a company directly on flexible contracts, through their own company or through other companies on a short-term basis, and who is typically responsible for their own tax and national insurance contributions and is not entitled to the same employment rights as employees”.

I take the point of the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, about sole traders, but this clarity is essential for effective policy-making and for freelancers themselves to understand their status and rights.

The amendment also empowers the Secretary of State to issue further guidance and to create an online tool to assist in determining freelancer status, adapting it as time goes on. Once we have a clear definition, we need a dedicated champion, and the noble Earl’s Amendment 287 proposes the establishment of an office of the freelance commissioner, to be led by an independent freelance commissioner appointed by the Secretary of State. This role, as he mentioned, has been overwhelmingly called for by voices across the sector, including my own Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, Creative UK, the Federation of Small Businesses, Prospect and a host of other organisations to which he also referred.

The freelance commissioner would serve as a critical conduit between industry and government, providing expert knowledge and genuine oversight. The responsibilities are set out in the amendment, but, in effect, he or she would advocate for the needs of freelancers across all government departments; bridge the existing gap in representation, especially where councils such as the Creative Industries Council lack advocacy for individual artists or creatives; drive change in government and business, aiming to eradicate the red tape affecting freelancers; gather and analyse crucial data on the freelance workforce, with a focus on the creative industries; and improve government understanding of the employment issues facing freelancers.

Finally, to ensure that the commissioner’s role is embedded in government policy considerations, Amendment 302 introduces a duty on relevant government departments to consider the specific needs of the freelancer workforce when formulating new policies or regulations. Currently, freelancers are often left behind in government policy due to gaps in data and their irregular employment patterns. They are more susceptible to economic fluctuations and lack the fundamental protections that employees enjoy, such as sick pay, flexible working hours and parental rights.

This amendment would mandate that departments such as the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have due regard to freelancer circumstances. Crucially, it would also require those departments to consult with the freelance commissioner during the development of any such policies. This duty is vital to ensure that upcoming employment reforms are fit not only for more traditional forms of employment but for the self-employed and freelance workforce, thereby safeguarding the long-term success of industries such as the creative sector.

These three amendments, which seek a clear definition of a freelancer, the establishment of a dedicated freelance commissioner and a statutory duty on government to consider freelancers in policy-making, are interconnected and essential. They represent a fundamental recognition of the modern workforce and a commitment to creating a fairer, more secure environment for those who drive innovation, creativity and economic growth.

[Viscount Colville of Culross (CB)]

My Lords, I apologise for being unable to here at the beginning of this debate despite having added my name to Amendment 287. I was stuck on the motorway for the last three hours. I absolutely support the amendment; it is an incredibly good measure. I hope that the Minister will listen kindly to my noble friend’s amendment and speech.

[Baroness Caine of Kentish Town (Lab)]

My Lords, I support Amendment 287 tabled by the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, which provides an opportunity to address a long-standing gap in protection for freelance workers. To illuminate that, I will focus on one area of specific concern: health and safety.

At least 70% of the production workforce in film and TV operates on non-permanent contracts. Technically classified as “self-employed”, they do not meet the standard definition of autonomous self-employment. Current laws surrounding health and safety at work are often open to interpretation by those on productions who hire them, and, in some productions, a culture of minimum compliance becomes compounded by an industry that tends to self-regulate. Freelancers often do not raise safety concerns or request reasonable adjustments to the work they are doing, as they fear gaining a reputation for being difficult in highly networked industries where word of mouth is a powerful currency.

To illuminate that further, let me turn to a tragedy raised in this place last February by my noble friend Lady Smith of Basildon—the now Leader of the House—while in opposition, during a very well received debate led by my noble friend Lord Bragg on the contribution of the arts to the UK economy and society. She referenced the work of the Mark Milsome Foundation, a campaign established following the tragic workplace death of this highly respected and experienced camera operator on a film set in 2017. At the inquest on Mark’s death, the coroner concluded that, on that set,

“the risk of Mr Milsome being harmed or fatally injured was not effectively recognised, assessed, communicated or managed”.

Despite these findings, no one has ever been held accountable, suggesting a gap or flaw in the law that needs to be filled or rectified, affording freelance employees the same safety rights, benefits and policies as others in employment.