Culture Fair Work Taskforce minutes: July 2025
- Published
- 28 October 2025
- Directorate
- Culture and External Affairs Directorate
- Date of meeting
- 3 July 2025
Minutes from the meeting of the group on 3 July 2025.
Part of
Attendees and apologies
Chair
- Briana Pegado, Chair and Independent Creative Practitioner
Members in attendance
- Stephanie Colgan, Glasgow Life
- BD Owens, Scottish Artists’ Union
- Inga Dale Steyn, Creative Edinburgh
- Paul McManus, BECTU – Prospect
- Mark Geddes, South of Scotland Enterprise
- Ayo Schwartz, National Theatre of Scotland
- John Campbell, Museums Galleries Scotland
- Alastair Evans, Creative Scotland
- Kathryn Welch, Culture Counts
- Marlene Curran, Equity
- Robert Kilpatrick, Scottish Music Industry Association
- Rosie Aspinall Priest, Independent – advocate for rights of freelancers
- Sam Gonçalves, Society of Authors
- Caroline Sewell, Musician’s Union
- Torquil Macleod, EventScotland (deputising for Marie Christie)
Apologies
- Mairi Taylor, Executive Director, Birds of Paradise
- Ola Wojkiewicz, Executive Director, Creative Edinburgh
- Iain Hamilton, Head of Creative Industries, Highlands and Islands Enterprise
- Jane Muirhead, Chair of Pact Council and Raise the Roof Productions
- Lindsey Ross, Director of People, Historic Environment Scotland
Items and actions
Welcome from the Chair and updates
The Chair welcomed members.
An update was provided noting the UK Government have tabled a Bill on Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The Chair considered the Bill impactful for Fair Work and access to work related issues and grants.
On 23 June 2025 the UK Government published it’s ‘Industrial Strategy 2025’ and the sector specific ‘Creative Industries Sector Plan’, which will see the relaunch of the Creative Industries Council and establish a new Creative Places Group.
The Chair asked if the membership were content to publish the sub-group minutes, to which the membership agreed.
Review of Creative Scotland
The Chair of this Taskforce met with the Chair of the Review of Creative Scotland on 27 May 2025 to discuss the work of the Taskforce. South of Scotland Enterprise also noted they had met with the Chair of the Review of Creative Scotland to discuss Fair Work.
Alastair Evans recused himself from discussions at this point and from any letter the membership might submit to the Review, on the grounds of being a Creative Scotland employee. Rose Aspinall Priest also recused herself from any letter.
It was noted by the majority of members that it would be beneficial to formally submit a response to the Review of Creative Scotland to notify them of Taskforce’s work, emerging themes and ensure awareness about the timelines and alignment for both these pieces of work.
It was noted that Creative Scotland’s remit in legislation remit does not reference artists and creative workers and that the inclusion of UNESCO’s Status of the Artist in Creative Scotland’s remit could be beneficial.
The Chair invited comments for inclusion in the letter to be received via email and a draft letter to be agreed via circulation.
Discussion of drafted recommendations paper
The Chair provided an overview of the drafted recommendations paper, which had been circulated to the membership ahead of this meeting, and invited comments.
It was suggested the group note in the recommendations that Fair Work is an evolving concept.
There was discussion about a Fair Work Charter and whether a tiered system for organisations commitment to Fair Work would be beneficial. It was noted that the proposition of a tiered system could be challenging and would need to be considered in line with organisations differing sizes and capacities.
It was noted that existing Scottish Government’s Fair Work First also currently states that employers should consider how the Fair Work criteria can be applied and that employers should take into account their organisation's context, including the type of organisation, its size, sector, and location.
The voluntary nature of compliance with the suggested Fair Work Charter was also noted. Members discussed that, for organisations receiving public funding, it would be beneficial for the Charter to not be mandatory but that it should instead follow the guidance of some other charters and require a good reason for an organisation to not comply and noted that that a lack of compliance may affect an organisation’s funding.
It was noted that the draft recommendations have moved on since February 2025 and that the breadth of the drafted recommendations should be considered alongside the group’s Terms of Reference as to whether some recommendations are outwith the scope.
It was noted that on some topics e.g. Universal Basic Income (UBI) it was important for the membership to consider how this may be addressed, as a pilot for example, as well as considering how ambitious they want recommendations to be.
It was noted that some of the current drafted recommendations, particularly surrounding legal or employment status reform, were reserved and not within the power of the Scottish Parliament and therefore the Scottish Government.
It was noted that the volunteers are not referenced in the current draft recommendations and would need to be considered for inclusion as they are cited in the group’s Terms of Reference. It was agreed noted that volunteers should be discussed at the next meeting of this Taskforce.
In discussion it was noted that if volunteers’ work is considered critical for delivery, that these roles are not voluntary. Internships and work experience should also be included in the discussion surrounding volunteers and how to reflect them in the recommendations.
It was noted that the current iteration of recommendations did not cite AI or generative AI. A suggestion was made that that AI should be expanded upon within the theme Ethics and Digital Equity.
On suggested recommendation surrounding disputes, it was noted that the suggested involvement of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) was beneficial.
The Chair clarified that the suggested marketing campaign to support this work would be owned by Scottish Government.
Any other business
The Chair noted the group will meet again for a detailed drafting session with the aim to publish recommendations in autumn.
Actions
- sub- group minutes are to be published
- the membership, with the exemption of Alistair Evans and Rosie Aspinall Priest, agreed to submit a Letter to the Review of Creative Scotland
- volunteers and UBI points to be reviewed and returned to in the next meeting of the Taskforce