The Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee has written to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport urging her to do more to support the work of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) and to extend the scope of the ban on the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

The letter follows the Committee’s report into misogyny in the music industry (commented upon here), which concluded that insufficient progress had been made in addressing discrimination and harassment in the sector and that Government intervention was essential.

One of the Committee’s recommendations was that the Government should commit to the long-term funding of CIISA, a body established in 2022 to “uphold and improve standards of behaviour across the creative industries and to prevent and tackle all forms of bullying and harassment, including bullying and harassment of a discriminatory nature”. We have previously commented on the work of CIISA here. Although it has been welcomed by many in the creative industries, the Committee’s Report expressed concern about the inability of CIISA to effectively establish itself and conduct its work, particularly given uncertainty about its funding. Those sentiments are reiterated in the Chair’s letter, which talks of a concern that “CIISA is being asked to undertake its duties with one arm tied behind its back”.

To address this, the Chair makes two recommendations: first, the Government is urged to introduce a “reserve power on funding to give CIISA the sustainable funding model it needs, in line with other industry-backed bodies”. As the letter explains, CIISA has moved from a levy model to one based on registration but, in the absence of a ‘regulatory backstop on income’, lacks financial stability and remains distracted by the need to raise funds. Second, the letter repeats calls for CIISA to be added to the list of bodies to which individuals can make so-called ‘qualifying disclosures’, so as to benefit from whistleblower protections.

Finally, the letter addresses what it identifies as a gap in the Government’s ban on the misuse of NDAs in the Employment Rights Act 2025, calling on the Government to ensure that freelancers receive equivalent protection. In a separate letter sent to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, the Committee Chair explains that “it would be simply unjustifiable to offer these protections for some workers but not all – especially in industries built on the backs of freelancers”.

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