Screen International interviewed Rishi Sunak about the creative industries - and asked him about freelancers..."Yes, I know it’s been a really tough time for many people because of the strikes in particular. But I think now, when I was talking to people, the things that we can do to make a difference are... Read more
Screen International interviewed Rishi Sunak about the creative industries - and asked him about freelancers...
"Yes, I know it’s been a really tough time for many people because of the strikes in particular. But I think now, when I was talking to people, the things that we can do to make a difference are essentially to make sure the sector they are all going to work in is vibrant, and we’re getting the investment in, and productions are being made here. To make sure that they have jobs and sets and crews that they can join.
The second thing is, that [for] those people who are self employed, in this budget [announced on March 6] and in the autumn statement, that tax cut is worth hundreds and hundreds of pounds for those people when they’re in work [Class 4 National Insurance Contributions were cut from 8% to 6%]. We’ve had two budgets or fiscal events over the last few months, both of them have cut taxes for those people in self employment. Because self employment isn’t always easy, right? Especially freelancers, you don’t quite know where your next gig is going come from. But we’ve cut taxes for them, as well as for everyone in employment, that’s worth pointing out.
We also want to make sure that the next generation is getting the support they need. The Brit School in Bradford that we’re setting up and the work we’re doing on flexi apprenticeships which started [when I was] chancellor. Lots of young people want to do an apprenticeship to get into the industry. But as you know, because they’re freelancers and they’re going from job to job, it doesn’t quite fit with the traditional apprenticeship model where you’re in one place for a fixed amount of time.
So I helped set up, with the Creative Industries Council, a flexi apprenticeship model, which will deal with that, and then we need to figure out how we scale that up so lots of more new young freelancers can come into the industry via an apprenticeship."
Full interview here: https://www.screendaily.com/features/exclusive-rishi-sunak-interview-uk-prime-minister-explains-why-he-hopes-indie-support-will-safeguard-the-uk-film-industry/5191631.article
"Yes, I know it’s been a really tough time for many people because of the strikes in particular. But I think now, when I was talking to people, the things that we can do to make a difference are essentially to make sure the sector they are all going to work in is vibrant, and we’re getting the investment in, and productions are being made here. To make sure that they have jobs and sets and crews that they can join.
The second thing is, that [for] those people who are self employed, in this budget [announced on March 6] and in the autumn statement, that tax cut is worth hundreds and hundreds of pounds for those people when they’re in work [Class 4 National Insurance Contributions were cut from 8% to 6%]. We’ve had two budgets or fiscal events over the last few months, both of them have cut taxes for those people in self employment. Because self employment isn’t always easy, right? Especially freelancers, you don’t quite know where your next gig is going come from. But we’ve cut taxes for them, as well as for everyone in employment, that’s worth pointing out.
We also want to make sure that the next generation is getting the support they need. The Brit School in Bradford that we’re setting up and the work we’re doing on flexi apprenticeships which started [when I was] chancellor. Lots of young people want to do an apprenticeship to get into the industry. But as you know, because they’re freelancers and they’re going from job to job, it doesn’t quite fit with the traditional apprenticeship model where you’re in one place for a fixed amount of time.
So I helped set up, with the Creative Industries Council, a flexi apprenticeship model, which will deal with that, and then we need to figure out how we scale that up so lots of more new young freelancers can come into the industry via an apprenticeship."
Full interview here: https://www.screendaily.com/features/exclusive-rishi-sunak-interview-uk-prime-minister-explains-why-he-hopes-indie-support-will-safeguard-the-uk-film-industry/5191631.article
