"Extend the Furlough" petition.

[Ynot]

Never quite sure whether these petitions ever actually have any effect on the status quo, but for something as close to home for many as this one, it doesn't hurt to at least try.

 

This one was I think started by the ATG - at least that's where the e-mail I've had thanking me for adding my name came from.

 

So, if you haven't but think it might help, why not add your name here...?

 

:D

[IRW]

It's not an official gov.uk petition, so even less likely that anyone of any significance (with regards to the furlough scheme) will take notice of it unfortunately. This is one that will not be getting my details I'm afraid.

[gareth]

Petitions these days are like standing ovations - there are so many of them, many of them started on such a flimsy pretext, that they've been rendered pretty much worthless.

[Ynot]

Petitions these days are like standing ovations - there are so many of them, many of them started on such a flimsy pretext, that they've been rendered pretty much worthless.

Fair points.

There's actually another one that's crossed my FB feed - https://platform.organise.org.uk/campaigns/rishi-sunak-extend-furlough

Same 'Organise' platform.

I did mail the latter to suggest they might like to join forces with the other... No reply as yet.

But between them they do have over 40,000 'signatures'...

 

Who knows...?

 

 

 

[Derek Tallent]

Petitions these days are like standing ovations - there are so many of them, many of them started on such a flimsy pretext, that they've been rendered pretty much worthless.

Fair points.

There's actually another one that's crossed my FB feed - https://platform.organise.org.uk/campaigns/rishi-sunak-extend-furlough

Same 'Organise' platform.

I did mail the latter to suggest they might like to join forces with the other... No reply as yet.

But between them they do have over 40,000 'signatures'...

 

Who knows...?

 

Just extending the furlough isn't going to solve many problems. My team have been on furlough since the end of March, and whilst it's been reassuring to have the wages covered there's still all the other usual overheads that have to be paid, without any income.

 

I suspect that even if the furlough scheme is extended, the end of October will be the end of the road for many in our industry, unless some grant funding to support the supply chain is put in place.

[Ynot]

Just extending the furlough isn't going to solve many problems. My team have been on furlough since the end of March, and whilst it's been reassuring to have the wages covered there's still all the other usual overheads that have to be paid, without any income.

 

I suspect that even if the furlough scheme is extended, the end of October will be the end of the road for many in our industry, unless some grant funding to support the supply chain is put in place.

That's looking at the problem from the PoV of an employer .

From the employees' PoV the JRS/furlough means they MIGHT still have their jobs in a few more months perhaps if it's extended, without putting too much pressure on the company that manages them.

 

It is a long shot, either way, but yep - many companies and the support firms are going to be unable to continue for much longer without another injection...

:(

 

 

 

[Derek Tallent]

Just extending the furlough isn't going to solve many problems. My team have been on furlough since the end of March, and whilst it's been reassuring to have the wages covered there's still all the other usual overheads that have to be paid, without any income.

 

I suspect that even if the furlough scheme is extended, the end of October will be the end of the road for many in our industry, unless some grant funding to support the supply chain is put in place.

That's looking at the problem from the PoV of an employer .

From the employees' PoV the JRS/furlough means they MIGHT still have their jobs in a few more months perhaps if it's extended, without putting too much pressure on the company that manages them.

 

It is a long shot, either way, but yep - many companies and the support firms are going to be unable to continue for much longer without another injection...

:(

 

I think that's a pretty fair assessment.

[Charlotte_R]

It feels a bit disingenuous for furlough to be extended without extending SEISS. The majority of staff in this industry are freelance and furlough isn't helping many freelancers.

[ImagineerTom]

And the genuine question has to be "how do you define who get the extended schemes" - the government have already proven themselves useless as understanding / quantifying the Theatre / Festival / Events business. How do you word the eligibility so that everyone in the sector gets support and it doesn't become a scheme that other sectors backdoor into. Like it or not that's the most important concern the government will have.

 

"anyone who works in theatre" - what about the people who work across multiple sectors; what percentage of your income has to come from theatre to make you qualify?

"actors, crew, technicians" - what about all the job titles that don't fall neatly into those categories; what do they do?

 

Across the whole sector there's thousands of people whose job title (carpenter, electrician, plumber, network supervisor, animator, cameraman, lorry driver, warehouse manager, admin, H&R) doesn't sound in the slightest bit theatrical yet work in the theatre / events industry but could also (in theory) transfer those skills to working in another sector. How do you design the scheme so that it serves the people who need it but also keeps out people from other industries that have the same job titles so that the government don't suffer their greatest fear of 2 weeks of the tabloids running stories about all the people cheating the system?

[Ynot]

And the genuine question has to be "how do you define who get the extended schemes"

To be blunt, that really is down to those who have some influence in our business to lay things on the line for HMG. And I'd say we have some pretty key players up there fighting for the cause, in BECTU, PLASA and the like, as well as many large company senior personnel it seems.

And almost EVERY interview or commentary I've seen has some mention of freelancers and S/E as well as casual/FT employees, so the message I think IS being shouted out loud.

The RED ALERT campaign is also very much in the spotlight (pun intended).

 

As for any abuse, it should be down to the employers to demonstrate that the people they wish to extend furlough for ARE (or were pre-March) involved in arts based work - that may be tricky for some, but this whole saga isn't going to be easy to resolve.

 

I'm sure everyone would welcome any positive options to raise....

 

 

[ImagineerTom]

Yes but the problem is neither the industry experts nor the government have, in 6 months, managed to come up with a practical definition of what defines what a business / person who works in the theatre / festival / arts sector actually is (see; all the funding schemes they've launched which miss out huge swaths of the industry) so the idea that they can now suddenly come up with a precise, nuanced criteria that defines an eligible person / business is incredibly optimistic. Add in to this the fact that the gov's #1 priority with just about every policy is to make sure it doesn't look like they're letting anyone cheat the system and you've got a perfect storm of people who can't come up with a realistic definition trying to negotiate with people who aren't interested in anything but ass-covering absolutes.

 

I /wish/ this wasn't the case, I wish there were better support schemes in place (several of us who've applied to the arts council grant scheme spent a lot of time, money and legal advice trying to come up with a way we could carry as many freelancers as possible with us through the scheme and were blocked at every turn by the regularly updated "rules") but this is the reality of the situation we are in and I don't see how lobbying for something that is effectively impossible is a better use of people's time than looking for other solutions which are less impossible.

[janeandr]

Never quite sure whether these petitions ever actually have any effect on the status quo, but for something as close to home for many as this one, it doesn't hurt to at least try.

 

This one was I think started by the ATG - at least that's where the e-mail I've had thanking me for adding my name came from.

 

So, if you haven't but think it might help, why not add your name here...?

 

:D

 

never ever this kind of petitionsend up good. Only as a public discussion

 

 

[Ynot]

Never quite sure whether these petitions ever actually have any effect on the status quo, but for something as close to home for many as this one, it doesn't hurt to at least try.

 

This one was I think started by the ATG - at least that's where the e-mail I've had thanking me for adding my name came from.

 

So, if you haven't but think it might help, why not add your name here...?

 

:D

never ever this kind of petitionsend up good. Only as a public discussion

Sooo...

If people sign it and it gets noticed (maybe) then it potentially helps.

If people sign it and it ends up going nowhere, then maybe it's a waste of a couple of individual minutes, but possibly worth a try.

If people don't sign it then it definitely goes nowhere...

 

I agree that petitions I've seen as a rule tend to be for things that are not actually achievable and possibly wild ideas. But this one does speak to the effect on the lives of thousands of people who can't work, despite desperately wanting to, so if there's a chance it could get somewhere, where's the harm?

[kerry davies]

Petitions to parliament do tend to be a waste of space however in this case there is no harm in adding our voices to those of the CBI, TUC, Chambers of Trade, trade associations and others.

Keep silent and you definitely won't be heard.

[Jivemaster]

The ending of support packages is probably a bit late to plan for survival and re-opening. The support is probably ending to force people to realise that re-opening carefully IS the ONLY way out.

 

If anyone thinks that their house is going to reopen to full houses with queues for returned tickets, think again. Houses that do reopen will open to 20 - 30% occupancy and some of those comps, the public will NOT venture out til it's proved safe by previous houses.