Consulting with Creative and Cultural Practitioners Policy

The policy does not apply to freelance practitioners who are members of National Council or our Area Councils. It also does not apply to consultants who we have procured or solicited via our existing framework agreements.  However, colleagues may wish to consider the principles of this policy in the context of those engagements. 

Where Arts Council England staff might also have relevant experience, we may invite them to contribute their perspective within their contractual working hours. We cannot make additional payments to staff.  

This policy does not impact or apply to the Arts Council’s open grants or funding processes.  

We expect Arts Council England staff who are developing a project or programme targeted at individuals to consult with freelance practitioners throughout the design and development of the work, and to include provision for this within the project budget.  

Arts Council England staff should also consider whether the freelancer perspective would be beneficial in support of other projects, where individuals might not be the primary focus or recipients, and engage them accordingly.  

Staff should consider how the freelancer perspective could be brought into internally focused content or events. Staff should also make sure that, when looking for a particular expertise or experience, they consider freelance practitioners as well as representatives from organisations.  

When consulting with freelance practitioners, staff should engage with freelancers from a range of backgrounds, geographies, disciplines, and levels of experience. Wherever possible, staff should seek to widen our pool of contributors by including new and different voices. When bringing groups together, staff should aim for the group to be representative of contemporary England.  

Arts Council England staff should ensure that they have carried out light-touch checks to confirm that the freelancer is registered as self-employed, and that the opportunity being offered is a genuine self-employed opportunity in compliance with IR35 regulations.   

Freelancers are responsible for their own tax and National Insurance, and also have to account for holiday and sick pay, pension, training and development, and other expenses usually covered by employers. As a result, we have set a rate of pay that is higher than the salaried equivalent.  

We should pay freelance practitioners £350 per day, or £50 per hour assuming a seven-hour working day, plus reasonable expenses (see Section 5 for further detail). When calculating rates of pay, staff should account for any preparation required, meetings and travel time where relevant. For longer-term engagements (for example, for multiple focus groups or regular meetings for an external reference group), staff should ensure their pay calculations include all the time required and any anticipated deliverables. 

We expect that all freelance practitioners will be offered the above rate as a minimum, however there may be circumstances where a higher rate is appropriate and should be negotiated on an individual basis. Likewise, there may be instances where the practitioner would prefer a lower rate, which should also be negotiated with the individual in question. 

Arts Council England staff should account for the costs of consulting with freelance practitioners within project budgets, using the above daily rate to guide budget calculations. Staff should also factor expenses and access support costs into their budgets.  

Payment should be made after the completion of the engagement on receipt of invoice. For longer-term engagements, it may be appropriate to agree a payment schedule with the practitioner(s), with a proportion paid after the engagement is complete.  

Arts Council England can cover certain expenses for practitioners. This includes the costs of return travel from the practitioner’s home, food, and accommodation on rare occasions where practitioners are required to be away from their home overnight. These should be agreed in advance, and receipts provided with any expense claim.  

Expense claims should be submitted after the work is completed, at the same time as submitting an invoice. We would not expect to purchase travel tickets on behalf of a practitioner, or to provide expense payments in advance, unless in exceptional circumstances.  

It will often be more appropriate to conduct focus groups and consultation sessions online.  

The practitioners we consult with may require access support. Staff should ensure that practitioners have enough time to notify the Arts Council of any accessibility requirements in advance of the meeting or session. Arts Council England staff are responsible for making sure that any such requirements are in place. Some practitioners may have their own support in place via the Government’s Access to Work scheme.  

Arts Council England staff should ensure that access costs are properly budgeted for in advance.  

It is generally good practice to ensure that any meetings longer than an hour include a short break.  

It is important that we ensure we engage with a wide range of practitioners and that we can track their involvement with us. Wherever possible, we want to ensure that we are not inviting the same practitioners to work with us across multiple opportunities. 

Colleagues may ask Area staff, Discipline teams and the Individuals team for suggestions of practitioners to approach. Any staff gathering contacts in this way should notify the Individuals team and share the contact list.   

Staff may also wish to consider callouts for practitioners with particular expertise or from particular backgrounds (in collaboration with National or Area Comms) or approach freelancer networks to offer opportunities to practitioners who are not already in contact with Arts Council England colleagues.  

Arts Council England sometimes commissions external organisations to carry out work on our behalf, including research and evaluations or consulting with representatives of the culture sector.  

Where external organisations will engage with freelance practitioners as part of the proposed work, Arts Council England staff should ensure that the Invitation to Tender sets out clear parameters so that practitioners are reasonably compensated for their time, and that the budget available for the work will allow for remuneration for practitioners. The supplier’s proposal for remuneration, including expenses and provision for access support, should be considered as part of any tender award.  

Arts Council England staff should use their judgement to decide whether the proposed approach is acceptable and in line with the Arts Council’s policy on working with freelancers.  

We want all freelance practitioners to have an equitable, positive, and mutually beneficial experience when working with us. As such, we expect that staff will adhere to the following standards: 

• Freelance practitioners should be provided with a written outline of what the work or engagement will entail and the offered pay rate. This could be in the form of a letter or email of agreement or a contract. Practitioners should also be provided with a copy of this policy for their information.  
• Practitioners should have the contact details for their lead contact, as well as for alternative members of staff should the lead contact be unavailable. If working with multiple staff members, the lead contact should ensure that the practitioner is introduced to the full team.  
• Drawing on our ‘Raising a Concern’ approach for our investment processes, practitioners should also be given the contact details for an independent member of staff to contact if they feel unable to raise an issue with the staff member or team they are working with.  
• Staff are encouraged to have regular check-ins with practitioners on longer-term projects. This should include regular conversations about progress against deliverables, to ensure that the project is on track and to enable practitioners and Arts Council England staff to find a solution early if there are any issues. 
• If the work will involve attending the Arts Council offices for meetings, practitioners should be provided with directions to the office. Staff should ensure that they are available to welcome the practitioner wherever possible and arrange for someone else to greet them if they are unavailable.  
• Travel time and preparation should be included when calculating rates of pay.  
• Practitioners should be paid promptly following receipt of their invoice. In practice, this means that the staff member responsible for ‘goods-receipting’ the invoice should do this within 5 working days of receipt, to ensure that Finance are able to process and pay the invoice.  
• If, for any reason, the input from freelancers is no longer required, freelance practitioners should be notified in writing with as much warning as possible. Staff should consider whether any preparation has already been completed and arrange appropriate payment. It is difficult for all involved when work is cancelled, and practitioners should be treated sensitively if this is the case.  
• If staff are engaging freelancers for a consultation or focus group, wherever possible, staff should inform participants of the outcome of the discussion and how their insights have been included.

We encourage good relationships in the workplace and a safe environment in which all individuals are respected and able to work effectively together. We are committed to treating all of our employees, clients and visitors with dignity and respect. This includes when working with freelance practitioners, whether that is on a one-off or short-term basis, or over a longer period of time.  

Complaints or concerns raised by freelance practitioners about Arts Council England staff must be taken seriously and should follow similar procedures to internal staff complaints. Usually, this would involve an attempt to resolve any issues informally before pursuing a formal complaint process and resolution.  

As part of contracting a freelance practitioner, it should be made clear who they can talk to if they wish to raise a complaint or concern about their experience of working with the Arts Council, or about a member of Arts Council England staff. As the concern may sometimes be the lead contact with whom they were working, practitioners should be given the details of a second staff member to contact.