Hutton pledges to ‘root out’ rogue agents

Published Thursday 20 September 2007 at 11:55 by Alistair Smith

Newly-appointed Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform John Hutton has promised a crackdown on “rogue agencies” which exploit aspiring performers.

The minister’s commitment was made during a speech at this year’s Trade Union Conference. It followed calls from Equity and Bectu presidents Harry Landis and Tony Lennon for tighter legislation and an all-out ban on up-front fees being charged by talent agents who promise to find work for performers in return for an advance payment.

Hutton said: “Where there are abuses in employment agencies, we must root them out. I can announce today we will double the number of inspectors in the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate and give them greater powers to investigate, and we will go further to crack down on rogue agencies. We will raise the possible penalty for abuses to an unlimited fee.”

Meanwhile, speaking at the TUC, as part of a debate about vulnerable workers, Landis complained that up-front fees were “wicked” and called on a loophole which allows agencies to charge money up-front to be included in a book of photos to be closed.

He added: “Most agents are legitimate and represent our walk-ons ethically, but there is a rogue element that charges money up front before taking them on.

“The DTI seems powerless to act… if the prime minister was sincere when he said he was intent on regulating agency laws, let him start by making up-front fees illegal.”

His calls were echoed by Lennon, his counterpart at backstage and technical union Bectu, who also demanded that new regulations be introduced to prevent agents from making late payments to employees working within the entertainment industries.

Lennon said: “The loudest call for proper regulation of agencies comes from agencies themselves who are honourable, responsible and want to treat our members responsibly when they engage them. They are fed up being undercut time after time by the rogues and the cowboys who cheat, deceive and rob our members.

“The rogue agents build their business models on holding back money from our members for as long as they possibly can… we are calling for proper control on late payment.

“We don’t think our members should take on the business risk of waiting for checks that the rogues and cowboys in the agency business seem to be passing on to us.”

A survey carried out by The Stage last year revealed 75% of respondents who paid up-front fees do not get work in the following 12 months.