UK's freelancers need a Freelance Champion who represents for all sectors no just creative industries
Britain’s 4.38m freelancers need an independent cross-sector Freelance Champion and Commissioner who has legislative voting rights
When the House of Lords debated the government’s Employment Rights Bill back in July, peers raised a question that should trouble anyone who cares about Britain’s economic future: what’s the point of a government-appointed Freelance Champion who caters to just one industry and has no true lawmaking powers?
This comes back to when the government announced a creative sector freelance champion through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, focusing exclusively on the creative industries.
For example, whilst Lord Clement-Jones and other peers spoke passionately about the need for an independent freelance commissioner with proper authority, the government’s response was to offer something far narrower—a sector-specific role with limited reach and even less bite.
The scale of what we’re ignoring
There’s a lot at stake for household incomes and the Treasury’s coffers when a freelance economy representative is not given the power of influence and voting power when it comes to tax and employment policies and laws.
Politicians and the Chancellor must be reminded of the figures
There are approximately 4.38 million self-employed workers forming a vital part of Britain’s workforce. These aren’t marginal players. They’re economic drivers whose success or failure ripples through every sector of our economy. The flexibility of self-employed work can lead to more people earning rather than depending on welfare.
The solo self-employed contributed £366 billion to the UK economy in 2024, compared to £331bn in 2023, according to IPSE. Of those who run side hustles, 21 per cent of them are working mums. Talk about a dynamic and self-motivated group of voters.
The creative industries alone are worth £125 billion to the UK economy, and they were rightly named as one of the government’s eight growth-driving sectors. Yet almost 30 per cent of the 2.4 million creatives are self-employed. Film and television production sees at least 70 per cent of the production workforce operating on non-permanent contracts. These freelancers are the backbone of a sector that generates billions in tax revenue through income tax, National Insurance contributions, VAT, and corporation tax from the companies they support.
But here’s what the government’s call for a Freelance Champion seems to have missed: freelancers power far more than just the creative sector. They’re integral to IT and software development, professional services, construction, healthcare, education, and countless other industries. Why should only one sector’s freelancers have a champion—albeit a toothless one—whilst millions of others are left to fend for themselves?
The payment crisis no government has yet to solve
The most damning evidence for why we need a proper freelance commissioner comes from the payment crisis that freelancers face daily. According to IPSE, the average amount that freelancers are currently owed in late payments has remained relatively stable at £5,230—enough to represent two full months of income for many. Over a third of freelancers reported that they haven’t been paid on time by a client in the last 12 months, whilst nearly three in 10 freelancers have to wait between a month and three months beyond the agreed payment deadline.
IPSE’s research has found the human cost staggering. One in five self-employed workers have found themselves with no money to cover basic living expenses such as rent and bills after an experience of late payment. And it’s not just delays—a concerning third of freelancers reported that they have completed work and not been paid for it.
Despite the government’s support for improvements to company payment practices, including through the Prompt Payment Code, IPSE’s findings reveal freelancers are still “plagued” by late payments, with over a third (35%) reporting that they haven’t been paid on time by a client in the last 12 months.
With inflation rising and the cost-of-living crisis worsening, the failure to get businesses to pay self-employed workers on time is forcing many freelancers to make difficult decisions around their financial well-being.
Whilst the creative industries certainly suffer from late payment issues, this is a cross-sector epidemic. A sector-specific champion, no matter how well-intentioned, cannot address systemic problems that affect freelancers in IT, consulting, healthcare, education, construction, etc.
Limited powers
The government’s creative freelance champion, as currently proposed, while a step in the right direction, arguably suffers from three flaws:
Industry limitation: There is a question as to whether the whole of the creative industries themselves would necessarily be served by the new champion, let alone the millions of freelancers working outside that sector. DCMS’s current understanding of these industries may be narrower than the reality, and this is certainly true of those craft industries that may not necessarily fall within the champion’s remit.
The Earl of Clancarty, said in the July 2025 Employment Rights Bill debate that a “freelance commissioner ought, of course, to be responsible not just for the creative industries but the whole landscape of freelance work. That should also extend beyond the particular concerns of employment rights to include the equally urgent concerns around pay and opportunities.”
Lack of authority: Unlike the proposed independent freelance commissioner that peers debated, this role appears to have no statutory powers, no ability to influence legislation, and no teeth to enforce meaningful change. As Lord Clement-Jones argued during the debate, we need an advocate with authority, not a token figurehead.
Missed economic opportunity: By failing to create a truly empowered, cross-sector freelance commissioner, the government is squandering an opportunity to unlock even greater economic potential from Britain’s freelance workforce. When freelancers are paid promptly and fairly, they can invest in their businesses, take on more clients, generate more tax revenues, hire support staff, and contribute even more to the economy and every politician’s economic benchmark: The bustling High Street.
What policymakers are missing
Politicians and policymakers need to rethink how they view freelancers. These aren’t people looking for handouts or special treatment—they’re entrepreneurs and specialists who often generate more economic value per person than traditional employees. They pay income tax on their earnings, National Insurance contributions (Class 2 and for some Class 4), VAT when their turnover exceeds £90,000, and they support countless businesses that in turn pay corporation tax.
Yet they do this when shouldering risks, something employees never face: no sick pay, no holiday pay, no employment protections, and the constant threat of late or non-payment. Previous IPSE research revealed that experiences of late payment during a self-employed career are more prevalent for groups such as lower-paid freelancers, women, and younger freelancers.
While an agnostic industry example is best, the creative industries alone does offer a perfect case study of what happens when freelancers thrive. Between 2010 and 2022, the creative industries expanded by 50.3 per cent, compared to the UK economy’s average increase of 21.5 per cent during the same period. Inward investment from film and high-end TV rose to £4.7 billion in 2024, up 43 per cent from 2023. This is what a healthy freelance ecosystem can achieve. So, imagine what could happen if we extended that support across all sectors?
The blueprint for change
What Britain needs isn’t a sector-specific champion with limited powers. It needs an independent freelance commissioner with:
Cross-sector authority: A mandate covering all industries where freelancers work, from the creative sector to professional services, IT, construction, healthcare, education, and beyond.
Legislative influence: The ability to propose and influence legislation affecting freelancers, including payment terms, contract standards, and tax policy. The government has unveiled late payment reforms including a statutory cap on payment terms of 60 days and enhanced enforcement powers for the Small Business Commissioner, reforms that a properly empowered freelance commissioner could help implement and extend.
Enforcement powers: Real teeth to investigate systemic problems, name and shame poor payers, and work with the Small Business Commissioner to ensure freelancers receive what they’re owed.
Economic development focus: A remit to identify and remove barriers preventing freelancers from scaling their businesses, taking on more work, and contributing even more to the economy. This includes addressing IR35, blanket contractor bans, skills gaps, access to finance, and support for freelancers to export their services internationally.
Data collection and research: The authority to gather comprehensive data on the freelance workforce across all sectors, enabling evidence-based policymaking rather than the current scattergun approach.
The stakes couldn’t be higher
The number of people going freelance in the UK is growing, spurred by multiple factors including the cost-of-living crisis, childcare costs, redundancy and unpaid elderly and parent care responsibilities. How current and future governments celebrate and support —or fail to support—this workforce will determine whether Britain remains competitive and attractive to investors and start-up founders.
Time for a rethink
The government’s creative freelance champion may be well-intentioned, but it’s a sticking plaster when surgery is required. Creative UK published a vision paper outlining that the Freelance Champion should launch formal, structured inquiries into major systemic barriers freelancers face—but even this ambitious vision is limited to one sector.
What we need is bigger, bolder, and industry-agnostic: an independent freelance commissioner with real powers to investigate, recommend legislation, enforce standards, and champion the interests of all freelancers across every sector of the British economy.
With hundreds of billions in economic contribution at stake, with millions of workers facing payment crises and precarious conditions, and with the freelance workforce set to grow substantially in the coming years, Britain needs a champion who can actually make a difference. The plan was to announce an appointment in 2025, but we’re in December, and there are many factors post-Budget to take into account.
The peers who debated this issue in the House of Lords understood what’s at stake. It’s time the government listened and delivered not a sector-specific figurehead, but a truly independent, empowered commissioner for all of Britain’s freelancers. Anything less and the government is abandoning its responsibility to one of our most dynamic and economically driven workforces.
