Diversity, equity and inclusion

In May 2021 we announced that we would, going forwards, ringfence 30% of our total grant spend for Black and Global Majority beneficiaries.

In December 2021 it was announced that we would also ringfence 15% for Disabled beneficiaries and would review whether to ringfence for other groups in future.

The grants we are currently referring to below are our Stop-Gap Grant, available for industry workers experiencing urgent financial need, and our Sir Horace Ové Grant, available to Black and Global Majority workers to help with access to opportunities to further their careers. 

Grants for Black and Global Majority applicants

For the financial year 2022–23, our performance against our stated targets was as follows:

During the financial year 22/23 we awarded more than £350k in grants via our Stop-Gap Grants and the Sir Horace Ové Fund.

Where race was known, 36% of all awards were made to Black and Global Majority applicants with the total amount paid being £98,984 or 31% of the total value*, meeting our commitment of 30%.

The Sir Horace Ové fund was launched in November 2022 with an initial aim of utilising funds that were underspent on Black and Global Majority applicants from the previous financial year. The fund provides Black and Global Majority applicants with:

• Contributions towards upgrading out-of-date equipment that is creating barriers to accessing work
• Contributions towards course fees
• Contributions towards travel where wages are in arrears
• Care contributions
• Contributions towards membership and affiliation costs.

The Sir Horace Ové fund was awarded to 47 applicants between November 2022 and March 2023, to the value of £21,575, thus exceeding the underspend from the previous financial year by some £8,000. A decision was made to continue the fund in the financial year 2022–23.

*Please note that these figures exclude the underspend from the previous financial year.

Grants for Disabled applicants 

Where disability was known, 36% of the awards from 22/23 were made to Disabled applicants with the total amount paid being £119,460 (or 36% of the total value), exceeding our commitment of 15%. 

We will update this page to reflect the financial year 2023–24 from April 2024.

In 2021, we committed to investing £1m through our Impact Partnership Programme, which will develop support, resources, and access for Black and Global Majority industry workers, contributing to the creation of an inclusive, equitable, anti-racist industry where creatives can thrive.

We believe that the expertise, insights, and lived experiences needed to drive anti-racism exists within Black and Global Majority communities. Our best response is to work in partnership and bring together industry experts, anti-racism advocates, corporations and organisations representing Black and Global Majority industry workers and stakeholders to find the most effective way to drive sustainable change.

We recruited a panel of 16 people, across a diverse mix of roles, levels, backgrounds, and sectors providing a balanced representation of skills and experiences from across the industry. This co-design panel worked with us to determine how best to allocate our £1m investment and shortly we will be launching the programme.

We have set diversity targets for the Trustees and staff of the charity as follows:

Black, Asian and minority ethnic

• UK population (ONS 2011 Census) – 14%
  
• Industry benchmark (ScreenSkills Annual Assessment 2019) – 10%
• Film and TV Charity End 2022 Target – 30% Trustees, 13% staff (including at least 2 staff in a senior position)
• Film and TV Charity End 2024 Target – 30% Trustees, 20% staff (including at least 3 staff in a senior position)
• Film and TV Charity End 2030 Target – At least 30% Trustees and staff

Disabled

• UK population (ONS 2011 Census) – 16%
• Industry benchmark (ScreenSkills Annual Assessment 2019) – 10%
• Film and TV Charity End 2022 Target – 35% Trustees
• Film and TV Charity End 2024 Target – 15% Trustees and staff (including at least 2 staff in a senior position)
• Film and TV Charity End 2030 Target – continuing

LGBTQ+

• UK population (ONS 2011 Census) – 7%
• Industry benchmark (ScreenSkills Annual Assessment 2019) – 12%
• Film and TV Charity End 2024 Target – 15% Trustees and staff (including at least 2 staff in a senior position)
• Film and TV Charity End 2030 Target – continuing

Out of London

• UK population (ONS 2011 Census) – 86%
• Industry benchmark (ScreenSkills Annual Assessment 2019) – 51%
• Film and TV Charity End 2024 Target – 25% Trustees and staff
• Film and TV Charity End 2030 Target – continuing

Notes on the targets

• Senior staff are defined as those at Head of Department level or above.
• The Charity is based in London and the industry remains disproportionately within London, but we serve the whole of the UK, and our targets are reflective of this situation. Our Black and Global Majority targets are positioned between the 2011 Census national data which showed 14% of the UK population were Black and Global Majority, and the 2011 Census figure for London which showed that this figure rose to 40% of the population in London – and allowing for anticipated growth of both figures in the ongoing 2021 Census.
• Comparing the data in the Policy and Evidence Centre’s recent report into class in the creative industries our organisation significantly over-indexes for staff from a privileged background (76% versus 51% for the industry and 37% for the UK economy), and under-indexes for those from a working class background (10% versus 16% for the industry versus 29% for the economy as a whole). We recognise that class is an important dimension which intersects with other dimensions of diversity and will strive to improve our class profile as we also strive to improve on all other dimensions.
• Beyond this we note the need to work towards a gender balance of the Charity’s staff which currently significantly over-indexes for women (while the UK population is 51% female and the industry 38% female, 62% of the current Charity staff identifies as female). We will therefore seek to rebalance the gender profile of the Charity by 2024.

We will report on progress against the 2024 targets at the end of the year.