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 freelancers in the creative industries in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) the rest of England.

DCMS has committed in the recent Creative Industries Sector Plan to appoint a Freelance Champion, who will give freelancers a voice within government.

DCMS will work with industry to develop Terms of Reference for this role. We envisage that it will represent the interests of creative freelancers in areas such as the development of the Plan to Make Work Pay, the Small Business Commissioner, the Fair Work Agency, and the Department for Business and Trade’s Small Business Growth Forum.

Skills Bootcamps continue to support adults across England to build sector-specific skills, including those needed for the creative industries. The government is allocating up to £5.6 million for Skills Bootcamps in 25/26 for Hertfordshire County Council, to support training for local learners, including those that are freelance or self-employed. This includes production assistant training and training in content creation for the creative industry.