Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Deferred
Support the creation of CIISA and ensure robust safeguarding and legal advice for reporters.
Recommendation
We support the creation of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA). It will help to shine a light on unacceptable behaviour in the music industry and in doing so, may reduce the risk of further harm. Crucially, it will be a single, recognisable body anyone in the industry can turn to for support and advice. CIISA must ensure that individuals who make reports are advised of their legal rights expeditiously to ensure legal deadlines are not missed. It will need to have in place robust safeguarding measures to protect those who report from retaliation and trained staff, including specialist counsellors, to support the mental wellbeing of those who call upon its services. (Recommendation, Paragraph 121)
Government Response Summary
The government redirects the specific recommendations for CIISA, such as advising legal rights and implementing robust safeguarding, to CIISA itself, stating these are matters for the Authority to consider. It also details the Solicitors Regulation Authority's guidance on NDAs.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The legal profession in England and Wales is independent of the Government, and solicitors in England and Wales are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s warning notice on the use of non-disclosure agreements (first published in 2018 and updated in 20208) states that it considers non-disclosure agreements to be improperly used if they prevent a person from reporting misconduct, making a protected disclosure, reporting an offence or cooperating with criminal activity. The Authority has taken enforcement action against solicitors over the misuse of non-disclosure agreements in line with this guidance. The Solicitors Regulatory Authority carried out a review of how non-disclosure agreements were being used in workplace complaints in 2023 and the findings were published in August 20239. Amongst the issues highlighted in the Authority’s thematic review was the need for solicitors to be mindful of potential imbalances of power between employers and employees, and not to allow clauses to be included which might deter the reporting of inappropriate behaviour to law enforcement or regulatory bodies. The question of whether those being asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement should have an automatic right to seek advice from qualified lawyers at the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority is a matter for the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority to consider.