The way freelancers are used in the broadcast sector has been under plenty of scrutiny in recent years, from IR35 disputes to unscrupulous blacklisting. But the big news last week was of an altogether different problem for freelancers: cartel behaviour (no, not that kind).

It was announced last week that the UK’s competition watchdog, the CMA, had fined four big production companies for colluding over the rates they paid to freelancers in sports TV broadcasting roles.

As concerning as this revelation is, the enforcement action is a positive example of how government can and should level the playing field for freelancers. Hopefully, it’ll get a conversation started around how to proactively nurture the freelance sector, which has heaps of potential to create jobs and grow the economy. 

But before we get carried away with building this freelance utopia, we first need to make sure that off-the-record benchmarking of freelancers’ pay, which is illegal, becomes a thing of the past.

The CMA’s investigation, which specifically looked at pay arrangements for freelancers in sports TV production roles, revealed 15 instances of bilateral co-ordination between production companies over a seven year period.

The ruling implicated BBC, BT, IMG and ITV, who shared a £4 million fine, as well as Sky, who were not fined in light of it self-reporting the activity before the investigation began. The fines levied on the firms, who admitted breaking the law, were also subject to partial leniency and settlement discounts.

The companies were found to have shared sensitive information on rates of pay to freelancers working in behind the camera roles, from camera operators and sound technicians to makeup artists and floor managers. The CMA highlighted correspondence where one firm told a competitor that they wished to “be aligned and benchmark the rates”. In another instance, they said they wanted to present a “united front”.

Ultimately, secret collusion by a small group of dominant firms in a sector to fix rates of pay exploits the already significant power imbalance between them and the freelancers they work with, undermining pay growth and causing potential financial harm.

When big companies team up to hold back the earnings of freelancers who are trying to make ends meet and live a fulfilling life, it smacks of unfairness. So too do the relatively small sounding fines for activity that has likely cost freelancers vastly more than £4 million over the past decade – especially when they can’t claim compensation for it.

When something unfair or unjust happens in our economy or society, the natural reaction is to call for some action to stop it happening again. But what happened in this case is already illegal; the firms admitted to wrongdoing, and were fined for it.

And in a separate investigation into non-sports TV production, which also concluded last week, the CMA said it would be taking no further action, noting the deterrent effect of its sports broadcasting investigation and observable changes to companies’ conduct and practices. 

Wrongdoing aside, the system has seemingly worked as it should. But it still feels like an underwhelming outcome for what was a huge breach of freelancers’ faith, and they’re likely to want stronger safeguards in future.

Bectu, the trade union for television industry workers, has suggested that collective agreements between freelancers and production firms could be the solution – an idea that they say that the CMA would be open to supporting too. In principle, this would help freelancers in the sector to pool their bargaining power against the bigger players and create more transparency around rates.

But my mind also turns to the case of the Consultant Eye Surgeons Partnership (CESP) Limited. This was a membership organisation for ophthalmologists working through Limited Liability Partnerships – a self-employed structure typically used by doctors and lawyers. The CESP was fined by the CMA in 2015 for coordinating its members in fee negotiations with insurers. 

Similarly, a group of anaesthetists were warned that their coordinated rebellion against a private healthcare insurer over fees in 2023 could also fall foul of competition rules due to the potential impact it could have on the supply of these specialists to the provider and, ultimately, the potential effect on patients’ choice and access.

Clearly, different sectors operate in different ways, and what may work in film and TV may not be appropriate or applicable to other freelance sectors. But that doesn’t mean we can’t give self-employed professionals more of a leg to stand on and give freelancers the power to walk away from bad deals. 

From getting tougher on late payments to freelancers, normalising terms and conditions in sectors with high freelance populations, and simplifying employment status rules, there are many ways that a motivated government can help give freelancers a stronger presence in our economy. If we can achieve any of these things, it would give freelancers fewer reasons to join a race to the bottom on their hard earned fees.