For writers, there are some improvements in the data, but the devil is always in the detail and the detail reveals that there is still urgent work that needs to be done to tackle equality, diversity and inclusion in our television industry.
We are disappointed that, yet again, women writers remain well underrepresented, accounting for just 36.9% of TV contributions, and that roles are generally highly gendered.
While contributions by disabled writers have risen, from 3.5% to 9.6%, they are still far behind that of national population figures. It is a similar story for over-50s writers, whose contributions rose from 21.4% to 24.5% and are below comparable workforce estimates.
It was also disappointing to learn that contributions from LGB* writers fell by 2% in the same period.
However, there has been some optimism, with the proportion of contributions from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority writers more than doubling over the last four years, rising from 6.5% to 13.2%.
More widely, it was deeply concerning to read that representation of disabled people remains well below the population as a whole in almost every genre and role, on-screen and off-screen and that while representation of Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups is above the census figure some minority groups are at much lower levels than their national workforce equivalents. For example, off-screen contributions by Asians (including East Asian, South Asian and other Asian) (3.2%) are half the comparable national workforce (6.4%).
We welcome the fact that CDN have announced plans to enhance the data it collects, including adding new ethnicity, religious affiliation and socio-economic background questions to the existing Diamond questionnaire forms, though await further detail on this.
We agree with CDN in its concern that the current downturn could disproportionally impact workers from lower socio-economic backgrounds, disabled people and those from ethnic minorities.
Our manifesto Putting writers at the heart of the story calls for mandatory equalities monitoring and reporting on freelancers engaged in the creative industries, plus independent inquiries into racism, sexism and other form of discrimination in the creative industries. We will continue to lobby and campaign on this. Our member networks for under-represented writers offer a forum for our members to meet in a safe space and share their experiences with us, to inform the work of our Equality and Diversity Committee.
* The figures for Transgender writers were redacted by CDN due to the sample size being too small. CDN ask separate questions on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation, which is why they are analysed and reported separately
