Zoom Meeting | 29.04.20 @ 12:00

Our meeting for freelancers (Zoom) on Wednesday 29th April was an opportunity to bring freelancers in our industry up to date on two issues and to hear their thoughts and concerns.

As we explained on the call, we are losing faith in the Government taking effective action to help freelancers in our business. The current arrangements do not help them.

The Government invited comment on the proposals to the Treasury Committee. The Treasury Committee agreed with the key three failings of the freelance scheme which we and others identified to them, and they wrote to the Chancellor to endorse them. At that point we were hopeful that the Chancellor would act but since then nothing.

Further opportunities to announce help have passed – including at the Chancellor’s statement on Monday 27th where he addressed the failings of the Government loans scheme.

We then discussed the prospect of getting back to work and how to progress that while prioritising safety, as per Coronavirus update #23. There were useful and practical suggestions for the Guidelines on producing safely that we are currently working on and which we will incorporate.

Some people felt that it was wrong to return to work now.