Today Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, delivered the Autumn budget. Equity’s General Secretary, Paul W Fleming, commented on the Budget saying:
“The performing arts and entertainment workforce are critical to national growth and the new government’s industrial strategy. Our sectors stimulate local economies across the UK, boosting local businesses.
“But twenty years of cuts at every level have seriously undermined the sector’s potential. National and local governments shouldn’t have to cut the arts to pay for basic public services.
“Today’s investment in technology and new production facilities are welcome as well as new recorded media infrastructure in the North East. Additional local authority funding should be used to restore slashed local arts budgets.
“The welcome change of tone on industrial strategy for the performing arts and entertainment industries- a result of Equity’s input with the government- needs serious cash and meaningful detail. The government’s own ambitions for our industry can’t be realised without a roadmap to investing 0.5% of GDP in these growth sectors, expanding UK film and television production, strengthening artists’ rights, regulating artificial intelligence, and abolishing the Universal Credit Minimum Income Floor, which pushes people out of creative labour markets.
“The centrality of ‘Making Work Pay’ to the budget and the growth mission is also positive, but needs to go deeper, and Equity will keep pressing Labour to ensure a positive impact for artists, especially those in precarious work paying freelance tax.
“Equity members will continue holding this government to account to deliver good work to all artists, good art to all workers and equity to all people.”
