Nearly five years after the Noel Clarke scandal, Britain’s independent bullying and harassment complaints body is finally about to launch its landmark whistleblowing service.
The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) will roll out its hotline in September and says those who report concerns to CIISA may be entitled to additional legal protections under UK whistleblowing law, including where they may have previously signed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs).
That is because CIISA has become an officially recognized whistleblowing body by the UK government, giving it additional protections and allowing people who have signed NDAs to report behavior. What is termed a Public Interest Disclosure Order will come into force on June 2, meaning CIISA will be designated a ‘Prescribed Person’ for whistleblowing disclosures relating to the film, TV, music and theater sectors.
Setting out its strategic vision for the next three years in a report titled Empowering Creativity by Protecting People, CIISA said the reporting service will launch this September, focusing on “building a clearer picture of the behaviours and practices affecting people across the sector.” It will be followed in 2026-27 by an independent reporting service to help create data sets and an “early intervention function” the following year to “identify patterns and deal with problems before they escalate.”
The idea is that CIISA could log bullying and harassment complaints about a certain individual working across different projects and help intervene at an early stage. CIISA emerged from the Clarke scandal and Time’s Up UK movement in summer 2021, when the Doctor Who star was accused by more than 20 women of misconduct, allegations that he has always denied.
Since then, there have been several high-profile incidences including Gregg Wallace and Russell Brand, both of whom also deny the allegations made against them.
But funding has been hard to come by and CIISA, which is backed by stars like Keira Knightley and Naomie Harris, has been slow to get its reporting service off the ground. CIISA has been seeking annual donations from the big broadcasters and streamers and the likes of the BBC, ITV, Sky and Warner Bros. Discovery have pledged to donate annually. Others like Channel 4, Disney and Amazon hadn’t as of last summer, while Netflix was declining comment.
As of today, Channel 4 said it “has made substantial financial contributions over the past two years towards [CIISA’s] development and we will be registering with CIISA.” Disney remain in constructive discussions with CIISA, Deadline understands. Netflix once again declined comment on whether it will fund the body and Amazon hadn’t responded to a request for comment by press time.
Deadline understands a register of CIISA donors will launch publicly but not for another year or so. The body will also move to a “register model” to help fund its activities, which it said will “enable registered organisations to celebrate their association and commitment to embedding the CIISA Standards.” Those standards were forged last year and include a commitment to ‘Safe Working Environments’, ‘Inclusive Working Environments’, ‘Open and Accountable Reporting Mechanisms’ and ‘Responsive Learning Cultures’.
The NDA news is a big boon for CIISA. Victims of Harvey Weinstein have spoken in the past about being gagged by NDAs. In the UK, new legislation recently banned NDAs being used by employers to silence employees subjected to harassment and abuse.
CIISA boss Jen Smith said: “I’m proud to set out our strategic vision for the next three years, which feels particularly significant in a moment of real momentum as CIISA is recognised as an independent whistleblowing body for film, TV, music and theatre, and as we open our registration model. Registering with CIISA enables organisations to make a visible commitment to collectively preventing the harmful behaviours that have no place in our sector; together we will drive real change that will benefit all those who make the UK’s creative sector so extraordinary.”
English (US) ·