Today, the Cultural and Creative Sector Taskforce sent yet another letter in draft form to the ministry of OCW. In it, the assembled umbrella of all creative and cultural organisations reiterates its earlier criticism of the relaxation of coronagraph measures, which brings no relief to the cultural sector and nightlife in particular.
Special attention is paid to nightlife DJs and technicians and the stalled mega-market of corporate parties. For the workers who earned their often lavish income from these, everything has come to a standstill and nothing is left but business closure and welfare. Since they are often not covered by any cultural institution, no trickle down of any kind of support applies either. So they need help, because otherwise we will lose any great entertainment until at least a few years after a possible end to the pandemic.
Fairer
The focus on the self-employed can only be welcomed. Interesting is also an acknowledgement of something we signalled in a survey on the spending of corona funding by theatres and pop venues. That survey found that at a single pop venue and a number of theatres, support had led to a sharp increase in reserves.
The Task Force now says about this that agreements have now been reached in the sector to distribute the coronasteun more fairly. In doing so, it was agreed that 'it is ensured that emergency support reaches all parts of the chain (from creator to technician, to producer and presentation venue). In doing so, all private and (semi)public parties take responsibility from their own place in the chain, showing solidarity with all workers; both those in paid employment and self-employed professionals.‘
Fair Practice
As this is apparently not yet going entirely wholeheartedly, the Taskforce asks the State Secretary for a 'positive incentive': 'This means that generic and specific emergency support will be used by all parties to pay workers, including self-employed contract workers. This can include reasonable compensation for unperformed assignments, advance payments for new assignments, hiring as temporary workers or retaining flex workers. The Fair Practice Code is the starting point in this approach.‘
One concludes this paragraph with: 'Emergency support should not lead to structural increases in reserves.‘
Incentive?
Wonderful, but it is not clear from the above passage, however, what the 'positive incentive' means other than that the ministry is enforcing the Fair Practice Code's 'apply and explain' principle in granting coronasteun even more strictly than before. As much as we like the Task Force, it still looks like a plea for stricter action against some members of the industry who give the Fair Practice Code a very unique interpretation (sometimes none).
It is a symptom of the difficulties that institutions like Arts '92 and the Taskforce have in actually enforcing discipline on all affiliates. This politicking between different interests could weaken the cause of the arts sector.
Fortunately, we now have a minister and secretary of state who have a reputation to uphold as saviours of science and culture. We are going to need them badly.
You can read the letter below
Fair-practice-at-emergency-and-recovery-support
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français 
