The wave of prominent CBI members leaving or pausing their membership in the wake of the sexual harassment allegations has forced all of us as business leaders to question whether we are doing enough to protect our colleagues (“Whistleblowing lessons from the CBI scandal”, Opinion, April 28).

Beginning with the Harvey Weinstein revelations, the creative industries sector has had its own serious challenges in the past few years. As a significant business sector, we have been working hard to address instances of bullying, harassment and discriminatory behaviour; ensuring we deliver on the duty of care for all those employed and contracted.

Recognising the enormity of the issue and the impact on our people we took a structural approach; establishing a working group, chaired by Caroline Norbury, chief executive of Creative UK, with key leaders from across the creative ecosystem, to address systemic and structural challenges.

This began with ensuring clear codes of conduct were published, training was continued, while developing an approach to monitoring that enables us to assess the effectiveness of the measures we had put in place.

From this, the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority was born — a body that will provide a single point of advice, support, early dispute resolution and investigation, with Dame Heather Rabbatts, chair of Time’s Up UK, at the helm, targeting support and guidance for those working as freelancers and contractors.

Alongside my role as interim chief executive, a business plan has been developed collaboratively with our partners and stakeholders, and more than 50 leading cultural and creative organisations have added their voices in support of our vision. We have been delighted by the groundswell of support from across the creative industries. No sector is untouchable and, ultimately, we are all responsible for doing more and doing it better.

Jen Smith
Interim Chief Executive, CIISA
Salford, Greater Manchester, UK