Leading figures from the UK’s culture sector have delivered a mixed verdict in response to the Chancellor’s Spring Budget, highlighting in particular how many freelancers will continue to miss out on crucial financial support.
Philippa Childs, General Secretary of the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (BECTU), praised the extension of the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme, calling the scheme “government intervention at its best”.
However, Childs also said that the inclusion of newly self-employed freelancers in upcoming SEISS payments “will be a relief for some” but added that “the government has grossly exaggerated the difference it will make.”
Childs further asserted that the budget failed to address key problems facing freelancers in the culture industries, such as the “£50k cliff edge”, which stipulates that those with profits exceeding £50,000 are ineligible for SEISS, and the cut-off dates for accessing SEISS payments. Childs also said that the scheme’s end date of July, two months before the furlough scheme is set to finish, was a “final insult” to contractors.
Meanwhile, Julian Bird, CEO of the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre, welcomed many elements of the budget, including the extension of SEISS and furlough.
However, Bird also called on the government to do more to protect those in the sector who are still largely out of work and remain ineligible for SEISS, saying: “The extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to cover new entrants in the 19/20 tax year will help many in our sector, but we urge the Government to continue to look at the plight of other individuals who have fallen through the gaps of furlough and self-employed support.”
