The Welsh Government is developing a Freelancer Pledge that will encourage freelance workers in the cultural and creative sectors to use their skills to partner with public services "to bring creativity and imagination to more areas of public life". The partnership work could include co-creating solutions with the community, contributing to local development plans, re-designing town and city centres or bringing new approaches to capital projects.
The Pledge will be linked to the new Covid-19 funding programme for freelance workers in Wales, and Future Generations Commissioner for Wales Sophie Howe sees it as "a big opportunity for culture to play a large role in Wales’ Covid recovery". She said the pledge to work with public services - which will be optional and not a condition of a grant - will allow creatives to "help build art and culture into everything from hospitals to town centres, improving the way we all live". The detail of the Freelancer Pledge will be designed over coming months in partnership with the freelancer community and unions, and support and training will be available to freelancers wanting to participate. Any work conducted as part of the Pledge would be paid.
Howe said this approach could form the basis of future schemes where the government provides a safety net on incomes with an option for individuals to participate in work within the community.