Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support parents and carers with childcare flexibility in the freelance screen industries.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport recognises that the freelance workforce is crucial to the success of the UK's world-leading creative industries, and we are committed to listening to the voices of the self-employed as we develop policies for the creative industries. The Creative Industries Sector Plan committed to increasing the diversity of the creative workforce, which includes ensuring that parents and carers can continue sustainable careers.

It is good to see initiatives such as Raising Films to support parents and carers in this sector, showing positive industry action. More broadly, the Government has committed to a review of the parental leave and pay system. The review will look at whether support available meets the needs of other working families who do not qualify for existing leave and pay entitlements, such as self-employed parents.

Where staff in the Film and HETV sector have employee status, they will benefit from reforms delivered through the Employment Rights Act including changes to make it more likely that flexible working requests are accepted, making paternity and unpaid parental leave a ‘day one’ right, and making it unlawful to dismiss a woman who is pregnant, including for six months after her return to work - except in specific circumstances. We are also supporting carers who want to work alongside managing their caring responsibilities is an important element of our plans to modernise the world of work. This is why we are reviewing the implementation of carer's leave and looking at where any improvements may be needed.