UK could make entertainment safeguards scheme compulsory, BBC reports

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is due to meet leaders from broadcasting, publishing, film and entertainment next week. BBC Newsnight reports that she will tell them to improve safeguarding themselves, but that the government could intervene if their response is inadequate.

That intervention could include requiring participation in the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), which is currently voluntary. No such requirement has been announced.

Nandy has said the industry must take meaningful steps to end abuse and harassment in sectors where “the power imbalances are huge and careers are built on contacts and reputation”. Her call followed allegations against Walliams and the sentencing of entertainer Russell Brand for rape and sexual assault.

CIISA says its registration scheme shows an organisation’s commitment to its standards, but does not guarantee that it meets them. The authority also says its reporting portal is open to people whose organisations are not registered.

Campaigner Zelda Perkins told Newsnight that participation should be mandatory, arguing that those who most need scrutiny may not join voluntarily. Perkins founded Can’t Buy My Silence, which campaigns against the use of non-disclosure agreements to stop people speaking out about their employers.

In a joint Guardian and ITV News investigation, multiple women accused Walliams of using his celebrity status to pursue young women for sex. Two women said they first met him when they were 15 and accused him of grooming them. One, given the pseudonym Jade, alleged that he initiated sexual contact with her at that age; his lawyers say he denies any sexual contact with her.

Walliams has denied wrongdoing and abusing his position. In a letter to the journalists, he said he regretted sometimes behaving thoughtlessly towards people with whom he had casual sexual relationships. “I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law,” he said.