ITV and S4C have joined Channel 4, BBC, Sky, UKTV, Channel 5 and Amazon Prime Video in supporting the Freelance Charter, which aims to improve the working life of freelancers across the television community and address the working practices and culture of people across the industry.
The Charter was first launched in August 2021 by the pan-industry working group Coalition for Change.
At the time, the Coalition said it marked “the first time in the sector’s history that industry bodies have come together to acknowledge its working practices and formally agree pledges to improve conditions”, and offered industry-wide guidance on issues such as recruitment and development, workplace culture, bullying, harassment, commissioner conduct, and training opportunities.
Emma Hardy from Channel 4 and Matt Travers from the BBC took over the leadership of the Coalition last year.
Speaking about ITV and S4C’s decision to join the Coalition, Hardy said: “The more cross industry support we have the more powerful we can be as a collective, which will help us drive forward with our agenda to continue introducing real tangible change in the sector. It’s great that ITV and S4C are adding their voice too.”
Travers added: “It’s fantastic to see even more big UK commissioners signing up to the Charter, giving us a much better chance of affecting real change for good across the industry.”
