The Women and Equalities Committee has published a follow-up to its predecessor committee’s report on misogyny in music, finding that “little has changed” and making a range of recommendations to “help set the music industry on a path of lasting change free from discrimination, harassment and fear”.

The Committee notes that whilst the previous report was “well received by the music industry” and some bodies committed to make changes, the response from Government was underwhelming. A year later, and with no sign of significant changes in the industry, the report concludes that Government action is essential, pointing to one piece of evidence suggesting that this will be the only thing that makes the industry sit up and take action.

A series of recommendations are set out in relation to concrete steps that the Government can take, including the following:

• Amending the Equality Act so that the protections relating to the prevention of third-party discrimination and harassment clearly include freelancers and those who are standing in for another musician.
• Amending the proposed duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment (in clause 19 of the Employment Rights Bill) to ensure freelancers are within its scope.
• Urgently bringing forward “legislative proposals to prohibit the use of non-disclosure and other forms of confidentiality agreements in cases involving (a) sexual abuse, sexual harassment or sexual misconduct; (b) bullying or harassment not falling within (a), and (c) discrimination relating to a protected characteristic”. This is in addition to upcoming changes on the law governing non-disclosure agreements, which we discussed here.
• Supporting the Creative Industries independent Standards Authority (CIISA, on which we have commented here) and accepting the recommendation from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee that “all parts of the creative industries under CIISA’s remit should commit to unconditional, long-term funding within six months”.
• Amending the Employment Rights Bill to bring Maternity Allowance into line with Statutory Maternity Pay.

To read the report in full, click here.

Our employment and immigration lawyers will continue to track developments closely. We will issue further updates as implementation plans are announced and highlight where we think the changes may have a particular impact on the media, technology and sports sectors. In the meantime, our specialists are here to help if you have any questions.