The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority, CIISA, has launched ‘The CIISA Standards’, which set out the minimum standards of behaviour expected across the UK’s creative industries.
The standards include preventing and tackling bullying and harassment and discriminatory behaviour.
The advisory board for the standards included the BBC, ITV, WBD, Pact, Bectu, The Production Guild of Great Britain and The Film and TV Charity.
Campaign group, TIME’S UP UK, called for the creation of an independent standards authority back in 2021 and has spearheaded this initiative supported by the creative industries round table set up by Creative UK and the then Secretary of State.
The CIISA Standards, developed with individuals and organisations across the creative industries, aim to “outline what a safe and inclusive working environment, that treats people with dignity, looks like, and are scalable to any size of organisation, production or project.”
The four Standards cover:
- Safe Working Environments: Everyone working in the creative industries must be able to do so in a professional environment, free from exposure to psychological, sexual and physical harm.
- Inclusive Working Environments: All those working in the creative industries have the right to be treated fairly and without prejudice at all stages of their career. Active steps must therefore be put in place to prevent discrimination and exclusion, ensuring that roles and the working environment are genuinely accessible to all.
- Open and Accountable Reporting Mechanisms: Everyone should feel confident that any concerns they raise will be taken seriously and resolved at the earliest opportunity. They should know how to raise a concern, and be able to do this without fear of being victimised, silenced or experiencing adverse outcomes for their career.
- Responsive Learning Cultures that enable those working in the creative industries to see concerns raised as an opportunity not just to address harmful behaviour, but also to capture learning and to act on it.
Once CIISA is fully operational, creative industries workers will be able to report concerns to CIISA related to potential breaches of the Standards and, where appropriate, CIISA will support these individuals, organisations, productions or projects “with appropriate advice and signposting to resources that will help them to ensure that their concerns are addressed.” Eventually, CIISA will look to “introduce services aimed at resolving concerns where possible.”
From the reports received, CIISA will begin to establish insights into the range of experiences across the creative industries. CIISA will then look at developing training and accreditation products to support professional development for individuals in the creative industries workforce in areas relevant to the Standards.
Baroness Helena Kennedy, Chair, CIISA says; “We are delighted to be launching our Standards today, which have been crafted with great care and consideration through detailed and extensive collaboration with key bodies in the film, television, theatre and music sectors, including our wonderfully supportive Standards Advisory Committee.
“Despite much work in this area, we know that bullying and harassment, including sexual harassment and behaviour of a discriminatory nature, remains prevalent in the creative industries. Power imbalances, informal working practices and environments, and job insecurity are all contributing factors. The particular impact on freelance and self-employed members of our creative industries workforce is especially acute so the need for CIISA is ever deeply felt.
“So these Standards represent a landmark moment, to provide consistency and coherence to what can be a challenging environment to navigate in terms of what constitutes harmful behaviour within the creative industries and how this can be prevented and dealt with.”
Niyi Akeju, CIISA’s Head of Standards Development says; ”We hope these industry-endorsed Standards will be a helpful reference for anyone who experiences or receives reports of harmful behaviour. Our next step for the Standards will be to provide tailored, practical guidance and illustrative examples to support the application of the Standards in real-life situations.
“We’re so grateful to everyone who contributed to the creation of these Standards, from the Standards Advisory Committee to the many other organisations and individuals who engaged with us from the initial draft through to the consultation. We will continue to work with industry to ensure that the Standards remain relevant and effective.”
Jen Smith, CIISA CEO says; “CIISA’s work is a collective endeavour with leading organisations across the creative sectors coming together to support the inception of a much-needed independent body that will give impartial advice and support to those facing bullying, harassment and discriminatory behaviours across all of the creative sectors, starting with in film, TV, music and theatre. Setting out clear and very practical Standards for our sector to socialise and embed is an important first step as we move towards providing CIISA’s full range of services such as mediation, dispute resolution and safely and confidentially being able to report behaviours of concern.”
CIISA is supported by BBC, ITV, Sky, C4, C5, Amazon, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Universal, Paramount, BAFTA, Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Spotlight, The Personal Managers Association, PRS, PPL, Live Nation, The Royal Albert Hall, Society of London Theatres and UK Theatre, The National Theatre, The Royal Exchange, The Independent Theatre Council, BECTU, The Film and TV Charity, UK Music, The BPI, The Musician’s Union, Help Musicians, Directors UK, The Musicians Union, The Production Guild, PACT, The UK Screen Alliance the FDA, Women in Film and TV. Black Lives in Music, The Music Publishers Association, The Casting Directors’ Guild, The Featured Artists Coalition, The Music Managers Forum, with leading bodies joining all the time.
Jon Creamer
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