Equity Senedd

Equity Publishes Nine Asks for Senedd Candidates

Equity has published nine asks for candidates running in the Senedd Election on the 6th of May to ensure the protection and promotion of Wales’ creative sector.

Equity, the trade union for performing arts and entertainment workers, is calling on all Senedd Election candidates to back nine policies that will ensure the protection and promotion of the creative sector and its workers – particularly in the context of Brexit and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

These include making culture and creativity the responsibility of a full Welsh Cabinet Member, the introduction of a Basic Income Guarantee for creative workers to protect them from precarity and help the industry get back on its feet, and the creation of an Independent Forum to advise the Welsh Government on policy in relation to the media in Wales.

Equity isn’t affiliated to any political party, but is encouraging people to vote in the Senedd Election on the 6th of May and to write to their local candidates asking them to support Equity’s manifesto asks.

“We believe this manifesto provides a strong framework within which to rebuild our industry that has been devastated by the pandemic,” said Christopher Batten, Chair of Equity’s Welsh National Committee. “It calls for the incoming Welsh Government to support and advocate for the creative community in the face of travel restrictions and loss of EU funding due to Brexit.”

“It is also a manifesto that dares us to press the reset button, to recognise the massive contribution creative workers make to Wales and to celebrate the rich diversity of creative voices from all parts of Welsh society.”

SUMMARY OF ASKS

  • Ensure that the importance of culture and creativity is recognised across Welsh Government by making it the responsibility of a full Cabinet Member.
  • Equity is calling for the immediate inclusion of all creative workers in existing arrangements or the creation of a separate creative visa for working across the EU.
  • Ensure that the lost EU funding for the creative industries is matched and replaced by the UK Share Prosperity Fund. The decision-making process for deployment of the funds in Wales should be devolved.
  • Equity is calling on the Government to introduce a Basic Income Guarantee for Creative Workers, which would help to provide creative workers with the financial stability to remain in the sector following the pandemic and ensure that creative workers are free to take work when it arises without fear of losing other forms of support and protection.
  • Ensure that Wales becomes a Fair Work Nation, making the use of industry standard union terms and conditions and the access to employment a condition of receipt of public monies.
  • Bring Sections 1 to 3 of the Equality Act into force, introducing a duty on public bodies to consider how they can reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage.
  • Make the funding of arts and music services a statutory duty for local authorities and raise spending on arts funding.
  • Equity calls for fully inclusive representation and equal opportunity for all practitioners.
  • Equity calls on the Welsh Government to set up an Independent Forum to advise them on policy in relation to the media in Wales, and to seek to change the narrative around the issue of the devolution of broadcasting in Wales and provide leadership on strengthening Wales’ voice in the broadcasting landscape to provide both cultural and economic return.

 

To find out more about Equity and to read about the nine policies in full, you can visit Equity’s website and view their online manifesto.