The Stage

New up-front fee regulations in doubt

Published Tuesday 20 April 2010 at 16:25 by Matthew Hemley

Up-front fees campaigners fear that proposed legislation aimed at cracking down on rogue agents could be scrapped, after it emerged that draft regulations were not debated by MPs prior to parliament being dissolved on April 12.

It will now be up to a new government to debate the regulations - which provide greater protection for performers in relation to up-front fees and which were laid before parliament in March - and see that they are implemented by October, as initially stated.

However, industry figures have said that they doubt that the laws will be put in place as planned, claiming a new government could delay any debate on the regulations or throw them out completely.

Bectu supervisory official Spencer MacDonald expressed his concern that draft regulations had not been debated prior to next month’s general election, and vowed that the union would be putting pressure on any new government to ensure they are introduced as planned. “We will lobby whichever party takes office until this injustice is dealt with,” he said.

Meanwhile, Equity walk-on councillor and up-front fees campaigner Clive Hurst said that the regulations were unlikely to be high on a new government’s list of priorities.

“It is unlikely that any new regulations will be in force by October 2010. It all depends on who wins the election. We are at the bottom of the pecking order,” he said.

The draft regulations put before parliament in March amend the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.

One of the key regulations sees the extension of a cooling-off period that actors, background artists, extras and walk-ons currently benefit from before committing any money to be included in a publication or directory. Currently this is seven days, but the new regulations would see this extended to 30 days.

The new legislation also provides actors, walk-ons, background artists and extras with seven days in which to object to the content of any information being included in a directory.

Last month the regulations were criticised as a “shambles” by industry figures, who were angry that they were not the same as the ones first announced by the government in November last year.

At that time, the government said it was looking to introduce a complete ban on agencies representing walk-ons, background artists, extras and models from taking up-front fees to include clients’ details in a publication or directory.

A spokesman for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills admitted that the draft regulations put before parliament in March had yet to be debated and said there was no guarantee they would come into force by October.

“The regulations were laid in parliament at the end of March. The next step is for them to be debated in parliament. As we are now in the pre-election period, the exact date for that debate cannot yet be scheduled,” he said.