Adapting and Thriving: A Look at the Journey of Independent Creatives Amidst and Beyond the Pandemic
In a significant move to bolster the recovery and growth of creative freelancers, the UK government has announced a new strategy that focuses on long-term policy changes. This strategy, outlined in the policy brief titled "Insights from our industry champions - recovery and growth for creative freelancers during and post-pandemic," was presented by Jo Chandler, a postgraduate student at Edinburgh College of Art, who worked as an intern for the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) to help plan and write up the Industry Champions panel on creative freelancers.
The strategy centers around the establishment of a dedicated government advocate, the Freelance Champion, within the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) as part of the 2025 Creative Industries Sector Plan. This role is designed to advocate for creative freelancers within government by addressing systemic barriers and ensuring sustainable, inclusive freelance careers through evidence-driven policy development and sector engagement.
Key policy measures and proposals include conducting formal, structured inquiries into major systemic challenges freelancers face, working with the Office of National Statistics to modernize Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, improving access to skills and continuous professional development programs, promoting collaboration among freelancers, trade associations, unions, and major employers, supporting creative subsectors through funding initiatives, and addressing regional disparities by fostering access to affordable, flexible creative workspaces.
The creative industries, which have a higher self-employment rate compared to the UK workforce overall, with 32.3% of the workforce being self-employed, have been severely impacted by the pandemic. Research from the national research project led by the Centre for Cultural Value shows that 55,000 jobs in music, performing, and visual arts were lost during the first lockdown.
This policy brief is based on a PEC Discussion Paper and examines international trade in the UK creative industries, provides a comprehensive analysis of audiences using census data, and outlines strategies for supporting growth in the creative sector. The briefing also sets out areas for possible policy action regarding authors' earnings and offers insights on the impacts of the pandemic on creative industries freelancers in the UK.
The discussion involved a panel of 15 Industry Champions, drawn from various creative industries across the UK, who were consulted to gain insights on the impacts of the pandemic on creative industries freelancers in the UK. The image for the briefing was created by Skylar Kang.
While the Freelance Champion role signals strong industry and governmental recognition of freelancers' essential contribution to the UK's creative economy, some debate remains regarding the extent of formal powers this position will have versus more statutory roles like a commissioner. Nonetheless, it represents a shift toward embedding freelancers' interests into long-term policy frameworks.
In summary, the post-pandemic strategy for freelancers in UK creative industries involves establishing a dedicated government advocate, data modernization to understand freelance work accurately, structured inquiries leading to targeted policy reform, enhanced access to training, skills, and workspace infrastructure, industry-wide collaboration for systemic barrier removal, sector-specific funding and regulatory support, and addressing regional disparities. These measures aim to create sustainable careers and support the thriving of freelancers in the creative sector over the long term.
This strategy is part of a series of policy briefings on Education, Skills, Talent, Internationalisation, Arts, Culture and Heritage, and Geography of the Creative Industries. Other briefings include "Creative industries innovation in seaside resorts and country towns," "Audiences and Workforce in Arts, Culture and Heritage," "Authors' Earnings in the UK," and "Transitioning to Sustainable Production across the UK Theatre Sector." The UK television production sector is one of Britain's leading creative export sectors, according to a policy brief. The Northern Creative Corridor is an initiative aimed at connecting creative clusters across Northern regions.
[1] Chandler, J. (2021) "Insights from our industry champions - recovery and growth for creative freelancers during and post-pandemic." London: Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre. [2] [PEC Discussion Paper] [3] [Policy brief - Three ways to support growth in the creative industries] [4] [Policy brief - Supporting creative subsectors through funding initiatives] [5] [Policy brief - Addressing regional disparities]
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