Creative UK, the non-profit organisation that supports the creative industries, has outlined its vision for the government’s so-called ’freelance champion’, a role that will be tasked with representing the rights of freelancers who have historically fallen between the gaps of government policy.
Creative UK, led by chief executive Caroline Norbury, is part of the working group helping the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to develop the shape and remit of the role. Directors UK and Bectu, which are also part of the working group, also provided their insights to the vision.
The champion role comes as part of a £380m package that aims to support innovation, access to finance, research and development, skills and regional growth as part of government’s creative industries sector plan. It is understood the champion will be appointed by government this year.
Screen understands it is yet to be determined if this will be a paid or unpaid role.
“The introduction of this much-campaigned-for role sends an important message that freelancers are valued – and that their rights are being taken seriously,” said Norbury.
Evidence generation, policy leadership and sector engagement are the three priority functions on which Creative UK would like to see the freelance champion role focus. It has proposed the mission statement: “To champion the interests of freelancers working across the cultural and creative industries by strengthening their voice in government, ensuring the conditions for sustainable, inclusive freelance careers are embedded in evidence-led policy making, industry practice and public investment.”
Within 12-18 months, the person who takes up the role should publish an authoritative freelance creative industries workforce inquiry report, said Creative UK.
The freelance champion should also challenge the limiting definitions of employment within government. Freelance is a broad term, encompassing individuals who work within a mix of short-term pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) contracts and self-employment, often across multiple employers and engagements. Some are sole traders, some own limited companies.
Directors UK’s 2025 member survey further underscores the complexity: 100% of their members are freelance or self-employed in practice, yet within that group, 54.9% operate as sole traders, 40.8% through limited companies and just 8.7% via PAYE engagements. “This reinforces the fact that traditional employment classifications underrepresent the scale of freelance work in practice – particularly in film and TV, where non-linear, project-based work remains the norm,” underlined Creative UK.
The champion, therefore, should working with the Office of National Statistics to modernise employment classification codes and develop new data models to accurately map freelance employment patterns.
Creative UK has looked to New York City’s Freelance Isn’t Free Act (2017) as a “pioneering model” for protecting freelance workers. This law created protections for freelance workers in NYC, including mandatory written contracts for freelance work; penalties for late or non-payment (which the UK government is also set to introduce as part of its small business plan); an enforcement unit embedded in the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. (As of 2023, freelancers had recovered more than $1.5m in owed compensation.)
The organisation’s recommendations have been published in a paper titled Delivering For Freelancers. In this, Creative UK described freelancers as “structurally unsupported within government policymaking” even though freelancers contribute “billions to the economy”.
Freelancers make up 70% of the creative workforce, according to Creative UK’s figures. The University of Reading’s Screen Industry Voices report noted some 50% of the film and TV industry is made up of freelance workers.
“Despite this,” stated the paper, “freelancers were some of the worst served by pandemic support schemes. Without focused leadership, they will continue to be overlooked in economic reforms, under-represented in workforce planning and left financially exposed.”
What is a ”champion”?
The creative sectors have broadly welcomed the government’s proposal to appoint a freelance champion. “Bectu has been fighting hard to secure a better deal for creative freelancers, and we are delighted at the establishment of a freelance champion,” said head of Bectu Philippa Childs.
“Freelancers have been consistently overlooked and underrepresented,” added Directors UK CEO Andy Harrower. “They have a precarious existence and are often exposed to risk and poor treatment, despite being the powerhouse behind our £125bn a year creative industries.”
However, there have been some discrepancies between what was first called for, and what the government is offering.
“Along with many of our members, Creative UK has consistently called for the appointment of a Freelancers’ Commissioner, independently appointed and hosted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) – to provide this infrastructure,” stated Creative UK in its paper.
The culture, media and sport committee also called for a freelance commissioner, both as part of its inquiry in the film and high-end TV and in its creator renumeration report.
The role the government has proposed will be called a freelance champion – not a freelance commissioner like the small business commissioner, the veterans commissioner or the older people’s commissioner for Wales – and will be appointed directly by the DCMS.
A commissioner is typically a paid position.
Norbury reiterated in an opinion piece published in UK theatre publication The Stage today (August 19): ”If the freelance champion is to have real impact, it must be a paid, independent appointment with the remit and credibility to gather data, speak across government and make the case for change.”
The DCMS declined to comment on what the exact difference between a ’commissioner’ and a ‘champion’ is, however said the champion will ”ensure their voices are heard in government as we look to drive further economic growth in the creative industries”.
Further examples of government champions include the anti-corruption champion, an unpaid position, and AI champions.
The UK creative industries minister Chris Bryant back in July called for a shift away from the screen sectors’ freelance model entirely, during a session with the CMS committee examining the creative industries sector plan.
“I’m not sure if it’s good for industry in the end if so many people are freelancers,” Byrant said. “In the end, if so many people are just freelancers, it doesn’t provide you with continuity, there ends up with a bit of a skills problem.”
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