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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the responsibilities of the Freelance Champion will include (a) evidence generation, (b) policy leadership and (c) sector engagement.

We committed in the Creative Industries Sector Plan to appoint a Freelance Champion in 2025, who will advocate for the creative sector’s freelancers within government and be a member of the Creative Industries Council.

We have been working closely with industry through a working group of the Creative Industries Council to inform the role's remit. This group developed a draft Terms of Reference, which outlines what industry would like to see from the role including commissioning and/or informing data and evidence gathering on creative industries freelancers; establishing mechanisms to give creative freelancers voice within government policy discussions; and working with a representative cross-section of creative industries stakeholders. We will use this work to inform the role specification prior to appointment.

It is important that the appointee is able to establish their priorities upon appointment, and we expect them to develop a workplan in the initial months of their appointment to address these priorities. The postholder will engage and work closely with the sector, and with ministers and government officials to represent the experiences of creative freelancers, and to build awareness of key rights, responsibilities, and resources among freelancers and their contractors.

We will make an appointment in the coming months.