Freelancers finally getting the support they need thanks to ACE

Freelancers are the backbone of the culture and creative sector. They make up around 70% of our industry and are at the heart of every production performed all over the UK. Without our artists, producers, directors, playwrights, technicians, set designers, and so many more creative and talented individuals, we wouldn’t have the theatre industry we love, and we certainly wouldn’t be able to keep contributing £34bn to the UK economy each year.

You might have seen recently that Arts Council England has just appointed Yasmin Khan in a newly-created role in the bid to support arts freelancers. It is the news that we’ve been waiting for and here’s why.

During the pandemic, we lost a huge number of freelancers due to a lack of funding and support. Freelancers didn’t get furloughed! Arts Council England did what it could at the time to alleviate the pressures and pain that we were put under in the form of emergency funding and immediate support. Sadly, it just wasn’t enough, and we haemorrhaged talent.

Bringing artists and creatives back and reviving their passion for the arts, attracting new blood, and the next generation to the industry has been an arduous and very slow process.

It was the annual surveys compiled by Freelancers Make Theatre Work that gave our freelancers a voice and brought to light the challenges our workforce was and is still facing.

From significant pay disparities, concerns around exclusivity, inequality and inaccessibility to low mental health, a decline in working environments and suffering in silence not knowing where to turn - these honest and stark answers gave us a narrative as to why so many were leaving the industry and how over time certain factors were having detrimental effects on our workforce.

Something had to be done.

There have been many discussions over the years in Parliament, with the Culture, Media and Sport Committee and cultural leaders calling for a freelance commissioner to support the working lives and rights of freelancers and act as a voice for freelancers within government.

Last September cultural leaders reopened the conversation with the Culture Media and Sport Committee, the Committee backed the new position in its recent report. 

Now Arts Council England has designed the new role of ‘Director, London and Individual Practitioners’ which will ‘strategically support creative freelancers across all art forms and regions.’

Yasmin Khan has been appointed in this role and will join ACE next month to oversee all work, policies, and funding processes that relate to and impact all art freelancers working within England.

Having worked for a range of cultural institutions, including the Science Museum and the British Library in an independent curator and cultural advisor, as well as founding consultancy Covalent Creatives – ‘an interdisciplinary cultural strategy consultancy co-creating participatory programmes with associates’ – plus much more I believe Yasmin has the right experience, expertise and passion to do great things in this role.

There are still many questions around the role - how will it work? How will the support be distributed? Does this one person have all the arts freelancers' best interests at heart?

Only time will tell but I think this is another step in the right direction. It is going to take time to rebuild the sector to get us back to where we were, but this is a good starting point.

We will continue to support freelancers for as long as we can in our productions and festivals. In our next project, Taking The Stage at MK Gallery from 16^th – 19^th October, we will be working with over 40 freelancers to stage a four-day festival that celebrates women in the performing arts.

We are very proud to not only create this inspirational festival with the support of Arts Council England but to also support and work with some very talented industry creatives.

We’re very pleased with the outcome of the new director role at Arts Council England. There needs to be a champion for our freelancers.
Let's hope that Yasmin Khan is the one to do it. We wish her the best of luck.