A group of over 150 of the BBC’s PAYE freelancers have sent an open letter to BBC DG Tony Hall calling on him to lobby government on their behalf as they are still falling through the gaps of government support during the COVID-19 crisis.
Currently, BBC PAYE freelancers who work on the corporation’s Public Service output have been told by BBC HR that they cannot be furloughed as part of the Job Retention Scheme for employees “because BBC Public Service does not qualify for the Government’s Job Retention Scheme as a public sector organisation.” But because their PAYE earnings make up more than half of their annual income they are also ineligible for the government’s Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
An Open Letter to the BBC’s Director General from over 150 of its PAYE freelancers
#ForgottenFreelancers #NoCreativeLeftBehind
May 13th 2020
Lord Tony Hall
BBC Director General’s Office
New Broadcasting House
Portland Place
London
W1A 1AA
Dear Tony,
We are all PAYE freelancers who regularly work in a wide range of production roles across BBC Public Service output. Unfortunately, we find ourselves writing this open letter to you with an urgency close to desperation.
As you’ll know, freelancers whose PAYE earnings make up more than half of their annual income are ineligible for the government’s Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS), while BBC HR have stated we cannot be furloughed either “because BBC Public Service does not qualify for the Government’s Job Retention Scheme as a public sector organisation.”
We were encouraged, however, by the letter you co-wrote with other major broadcasters to the Culture Secretary and The Chancellor of the Exchequer on April 3rd, which pointed out the risk of freelancers paid through PAYE “unintentionally falling through the cracks” of the furloughing and freelance schemes announced by the Chancellor the week before.
In the letter, viewable here – https://www.televisual.com/news-detail/Broadcasters-join-to-ask-DCMS-for-freelancer-help_nid-8706.html – you and your fellow broadcasting executives helpfully proposed amendments to the SEISS intended to resolve the issue without the need for the creation of a new scheme. Among these was the suggestion that HMRC’s PAYE and tax records “could be used to establish eligibility for the same assistance as other freelancers who trade in different ways.” The letter concluded by stating “there is no time to be lost” and that you would “do everything we can to work with government and HMRC to try to implement this sort of solution to the problem”.
Five weeks since that welcome intervention into this matter, as far as we are aware, there have been no such changes to the SEISS and no solution to the problem. Could you please update us on the response from government and HMRC to the broadcasters’ proposals?
Sustained cross-sector lobbying by unions, cross-party MPs and individual workers continues, notably under the #ForgottenFreelancers banner, with the goal of ensuring the precarious situation of freelancers is recognised and addressed through effective policy changes.
In what is clearly a vital period, can we also ask you what the BBC is doing to lobby government – as it did in that joint-letter with other broadcasters last month – to ensure that PAYE freelancers like us do not continue to fall through the gaps of government support? And is there anything you’d suggest we can do to help these efforts?
As is to be expected, many of us have unfortunately seen our freelance bookings severely reduced or, perhaps in most cases, vanish entirely as a result of the current pandemic. Getting through these difficult times is tough enough, but our ineligibility for the existing income support schemes is further impacting on both our finances and our mental health.
In a recent union survey on how Covid-19 is affecting the creative freelance community, over 50% of respondents said they were actively considering leaving the industry so disillusioned are they at their treatment during this crisis. We are aware too that many of the most junior and financially vulnerable freelance workers in the broadcast industry are engaged on casual PAYE freelance terms.
Yesterday, the Chancellor extended his furlough scheme for employees, protecting many millions of incomes for months to come. As yet there has been no announcement concerning changes to or an extension of the SEISS. Now is the time to act. We must lobby hard to secure the much-needed support for PAYE freelancers, at the BBC and beyond, who are currently frozen out through no fault of their own, otherwise they face an extended period of unemployment and hardship. We hope we can rely on the BBC to play its part.
Please note that a copy of this correspondence is being distributed to media editors across the UK.
Yours Sincerely,
Letter Signees (157)
Matt Walker, Assistant Producer, BBC Sport
Ian Williams, Broadcast Journalist, BBC London & World Service
Simon Hancock, Broadcast Journalist, Asian Network and World Service
Stuart Clarkson, Senior Broadcast Journalist and Newsreader, 5 live
Matt Gregory, Journalism Researcher, Red Button & Sport live
Kirsty Starkey-Midha, Radio producer, Radio 4 and Factual
Niamh Lewis, Broadcast Journalist, BBC Sport
Emma Priestly, Assistant Producer, BBC Sport
Joe Canavan, Researcher & Assistant Producer, BBC Sport
Kevin McGrath, Newsreader, 5 live
Katherine White, Senior Broadcast Journalist, BBC Radio News
Nick Quraishi, Presenter & Newsreader, Radio 2, 5 live, World Service, TV News, BBC Voice
Alice Rosenthal, Broadcast Journalist, BBC News
Jamie Reid, Broadcast Journalist, BBC Radio London
Rudabah Kermani, Presenter, BBC Voice
Nigel Bidmead, Broadcast Journalist, BBC Radio London
Kris Temple, Sports Broadcaster, BBC Radio Solent
Loran Rose Treen, Assistant Producer, Network Radio & Factual
Alastair Ross, Broadcaster & Producer, World Service Sport
Rob Schofield, Broadcaster and Producer, BBC Sport
Mike Powell, Presenter, Reporter & Producer, Network Radio & World Service Business
Beth Timmins, Broadcast Journalist, World Service
Kirsty Manley, Broadcast Journalist, World Service & Network Radio
Nyasha Michell, Broadcast Journalist, World Service
Lee Hetherington, Presenter & Producer, 5 live & BBC Local Radio
Amelia Jones, Assistant Producer, BBC Sport
Ant Sullivan, Assistant Producer, BBC Sport
Olivere Chase, Assistant Producer, BBC Sport
Malika Fachrou, Broadcast Journalist, BBC News
Rosie Stopher, Assistant producer and Radio journalist, Network Radio & Factual
Victoria Holland, Video & Digital Journalist, Look North, 5 live & BBC Radio Manchester
Chris Harding, Producer, BBC Radio Wales
Harry Poole, Online Journalist, BBC Sport
James Gregg, Broadcaster & Producer, Network Radio & World Service Sport
Shaun Hassett, Broadcast Journalist, BBC World News
Ian Wilding, Broadcast Journalist, BBC Radio Solent
Jordan Clark, Broadcast Journalist, BBC Radio Solent
Dom Busby, Broadcaster, 5 live
Thomas Gayle, Broadcaster & Producer, 5 live, World Service & BBC Sport
Nicole Ray, Presenter, BBC Radio Leeds
Freddie Tennyson, Broadcast Journalist, BBC News, BBC World, BBC Voice & BBC Minute
Alydia Noble, Broadcast Journalist, BBC World
Anusha Kumar, Producer, BBC News
Natalia Bradford, Researcher and Producer, World Service & 5 live
Ishleen Kaur, Producer, World Service & BBC World News
Sophie Tran-Thomson, Broadcast Journalist, BBC World News
James Ransley, Broadcast Journalist, BBC World News
Lauren Moore, Broadcast Journalist, BBC Radio London
Al Booth, Presenter and Reporter, BBC Local Radio
Thomas Stewart, Digital Producer, 5 live
Kerry Gordon, TV operations, BBC Scotland
Emma Cluley, Broadcast Journalist & Assistant Producer, BBC Sport & Digital
Heather Andrews, TV operations, BBC Scotland
Fiona Starrs, Sound Supervisor, BBC Scotland
Patrick Kiteley, Producer, 5 live
Keith Forbes, TV operations, BBC Scotland
Jenn Daly, TV & Radio Sound Assistant, BBC Scotland & BBC Radio Scotland
Craig Nelson, Online Researcher & Broadcast Journalist, BBC Sport
Kathryn Armstrong, Broadcast Journalist, BBC World News
Hayley Pollock, Sound Assistant, BBC Scotland
Michelle Shields, Floor manager, BBC Scotland
Anna Hodges, Broadcast Journalist, 5 live and Newsbeat
Amanda Perry, Production Coordinator
Fraser Walker, Runner, BBC Scotland
Miriam Walker-Khan, Broadcast Journalist, BBC Sport
Gav Murchie, Audio Supervisor, BBC Scotland
Jodie Troup, Audience Champion, BBC Scotland
Brian Reid, Audience Champion, Scheduler & Driver, BBC Scotland
Kostas Giamarelos, Camera Operator/Assistant, BBC Scotland
Raymond Houston, Camera Operator, BBC Scotland
Belinda MacDonald, Vision Supervisor, BBC Scotland
Fiona Johnstone, Audio Supervisor, BBC Radio Scotland
Rhian McAuley, Producer, Sports News & World Service
David Cook, Researcher, BBC Scotland
Nicola Harrison, Autocue Operator, BBC Politics
Barry Jackson, Audio Supervisor, BBC Scotland
Murray Collier, Audio Supervisor, BBC Scotland
Sara Jayne Mattinson, Audio Supervisor BBC Scotland
Poppy Walmsley, Producer, BBC Children’s & Education
Jenna Gahagan, Camera Assistant, BBC Scotland
Leigh Small, Graphic Designer, BBC Sport
Sandy Johnston, Assistant Producer, BBC Sport
Katie Bailey, Assistant Producer, BBC Sport
Abby Trotter, Production Management Assistant, BBC Sport
Kim Crowther, Drama Producer, BBC Sport
Henry William Louis, Assistant Producer, Network Radio & Live Events/Music
Kate Dalzell, Costume Standby, BBC Scotland
Marc Tudor-Edwards, Presenter, TV Sports News
Simon Smith, Scenic Operator, BBC Scotland
Tarquin Penman, Audio Supervisor, BBC Radio Scotland
Sophie Guise, Costume Standby, BBC Scotland
Alex McKay, 2nd Assistant Director, BBC Scotland
Thomas Curtis, Camera/Studio Operator, East Midlands Today
Emma Peach, Gallery PA, BBC Children’s & North West Tonight
Dan Hudson, Producer, Radio 1 & 1Xtra
Beth Smith, Technical Operator, East Midlands Today
Will Broadbent, Station Sound Producer, BBC Radio Manchester
Donna Bowyer, Camera Operator, East Midlands Today
Kathryn Parker, Video Journalist & Producer, Digital Current Affairs
Juliette Ivie, Assistant Producer, 6 Music and Radio 2
Robert Beck, Assistant Producer, BBC Education
Sarah Ebockayuk, Assistant Producer, Radio 1, 1Xtra & Asian Network
Kate Mead, producer, Panorama & Arabic
Simon Ritchie, Producer, 6 Music, Radio 2 & BBC Radio Manchester
Carissa Jumu, Video Journalist & Assistant Producer, BBC Stories
Steve Bull, Audio Supervisor and Technical Operator, BBC Radio Scotland & Alba
Mike Perkins, Broadcast Journalist, BBC Sports News
Dena May Thanopoulos, Costume Assistant, BBC Scotland
Ross McGinnes, Online Journalist, BBC Sport
Maxence Peigne, Broadcast Journalist, World Service and Radio 4
Andy Darbyshire, Floor Manager, BBC Children’s
Kate Forshaw, Assistant Producer, BBC Learning
Afia Kufuor, Assistant Producer, Radio 1 & 1Xtra
David Mooney, Broadcast Journalist, 5 live
Rob King, Producer and Director, BBC Sport & BBC Three
Nicola Corrigan, Runner, BBC Children’s
Scott Dickinson-Moore, Assistant Producer, BBC Sport
Nikesh Rughani, Broadcaster, BBC News & BBC Sport
Paul Hawkins, Broadcaster, BBC News & BBC London
Andrea Bennett, Producer, Radio 1, 1Xtra & Asian Network
Rachel Stanton, Broadcast journalist, BBC World News
Jim Fallon, Audio Supervisor, BBC Scotland
Gareth Bird, Broadcast Assistant & Producer, BBC Radio Manchester
Paul Harrison, Broadcast Journalist, BBC News & BBC Sport
Michael James Gallivan, 1st Assistant Director, BBC Children’s
Nick Hatton, Broadcast Journalist & Producer, 5 live & World Service
Adam Campbell, Tech Op, BBC Yorkshire
Nicola Henry, Runner, BBC Children’s
Laura Cain, Broadcast Journalist, World Service & Radio 4
Sunita Jaswal, Broadcast Journalist, BBC World News
Helena Webb, Broadcast Journalist, Radio 1, 1Xtra & Radio 4
Chris Hemmings, Broadcast Journalist & Reporter, BBC News Channel
Louise Mason, Music Journalist & Producer, 6 Music
Guy Phenix, Assistant Producer, BBC Education
Qandeel Shaam, Broadcast Journalist, BBC World News
Tim Arstall, Assistant Producer, Radio 1, 1Xtra & Asian Network
Leila Al-Mitwally, Assistant Producer, Radio 1, 1Xtra, Asian Network & Radio 2
Zofia Hare, Content Assistant, Radio 1 & 1Xtra
Dom Stirling, Producer, Radio 1, 1Xtra, Asian Network
Nels Hylton, Assistant Producer, Radio 2
Rebecca Jacques-Parr, Art Department, The One Show
Matt Soanes, Broadcast Journalist, 5 live and BBC Local Radio
Jessi Rumble, Production Management Assistant, BBC North
Melissa Feather, Broadcast Assistant, Midlands Today
Max Bower, Assistant Producer & Researcher, Radio 4
Maisie Craddock, Production Management Assistant, BBC Children’s
Yousef Anani, Broadcast Journalist, Newsgathering
Usman Arshad, Tech Op, BBC Yorkshire/Look North
Peter Neill, Tech Op, English Regions
Freya Phillips, Researcher, BBC Education
Suraiyyah Jeewa, Assistant Producer, Radio 1, 1Xtra & Asian Network
Meghan Owen, Broadcast Journalist, BBC London
Lily Hogg, Art Department, The One Show
Robin Hogg, Camera Department, BBC Yorkshire
David Lewis, Broadcast Journalist, BBC World News & World Service
Stephanie Prentice, Broadcast Journalist, BBC World Service
Julian Perkins, Broadcast Journalist, BBC Radio Berkshire
Additional Supporters
Phillip Coulter, Assistant Producer, BBC Studios
Kate Vines, Development Executive, BBC Studios
Catherine Pollock, Production Coordinator, BBC Studios
Marika Cronnolly, Assistant Producer, BBC Studios
Dylan Cargill, Freelance Junior Researcher, BBC Studios
James McBrien, Freelance Researcher, BBC Studios
Fergus Cruickshank, Freelance Camera Assistant, BBC Studios
Laura Sleep, Freelance Post Production-Coordinator, BBC Studios
Valentina Tschismarov, Freelance Digital Technician, BBC Studios
Edwin Rothwell, Freelance Assistant Producer, BBC Studios
Aisling Ni Ghioinn, Costume Assistant, BBC Studios
Elliott Wengler, Team Assistant, BBC Studios
Kim Crowther, Drama Producer, CBBC
Winnie Agbonlahor, Producer, BBC World News
Jon Creamer
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