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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to provide support to the Live Comedy Association's initiative to consult with the sector on (a) introducing a code of conduct and (b) improving working conditions.

Comedy is a vital performing art and part of our cultural landscape. It enriches lives. It shapes our collective identity. And it provides a much-needed corrective to pervasive political pomposity and prolixity, especially from ministers.

The government welcomes constructive action on improving working conditions across the creative industries. We know that poor working practices represent a threat to growth and disproportionately affect people who are under-represented. We welcome further details on the Live Comedy Association initiative to consider how we can provide support.

More widely, the Good Work Review, published in February 2023, by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, was the first sectoral deep dive of its kind into job quality and working practice in the creative industries. We are working closely with the sector as it responds to the recommendations of the review, which set out a number of priorities, including developing dedicated support and guidance for self-employed and freelance creators, building awareness of employment rights and responsibilities for creative workers and businesses, and encouraging the establishment of good work standards that reflect the distinct job quality issues in creative sub-sectors.