Policy Briefs and Reports

This report summarises key findings from interviews with UK screenwriters investigating the impact of streaming services on their earnings.

Screenwriters widely reported the use of the buyout model by SVODs in the UK:

• Buyouts have become increasingly common for writers when they write for SVODs. Many writers we spoke to are already relying on buyout contracts or expect to do so in the future.
• Buyout contracts resulted in screenwriters receiving 100-145% SUA of their script fee for the SVOD to own the original content, with no option to receive ongoing residuals or royalties.
• SVODs’ entry into the market was a double-edged sword for writers: SVODs opened up new writing opportunities for writers, but their tendency towards higher-budget productions meant these opportunities tend to be skewed toward experienced screenwriters.
• Writers’ preference for, or willingness to accept, a more immediate and substantial buyout compared to long-term residual earnings is influenced by the unpredictability of residuals, precarious working patterns, and asymmetrical power relations between writers and SVODs.

Individual writers found it challenging to quantify the impact of changes on their earnings, due to:

• There is a lack of transparency in the viewing and subscription figures from SVODs.
• A lack of clarity from writers on the details of their contracts and a reliance on the agent to understand the details and to negotiate rates with the production company and SVOD or broadcaster.

Writers expressed that the shift to working with streaming services has impacted them and the industry in a range of ways:

• Increased insecurity and precarity, especially given the nature of work with long periods of development (or speculative work) with no or little pay.
• Lack of development opportunities for new writers.
• Impact on diversity and inclusion within the industry, with diversified content but concentrated labour focusing on experienced rather than new writers.

This report makes two key recommendations to address screenwriters’ earnings:

• The need to support freelancers, including from government legislation and investment, and the representation of collective interests with streaming services similar to current WGGB agreements
• Support for training and development of new and mid-career screenwriters, recognising a potential skill gap emerging in the industry

Read the full report: Screenwriters' Earning report (PDF , 1,358kb)

This policy brief summarises key findings from interviews with UK screenwriters regarding the impact of streaming services (SVODs) on their earnings and working relationships and makes recommendations to address the issues around screenwriters' earnings. 

Read the policy brief: Screenwriters' Earnings policy brief (PDF , 328kb)

Households in the Private Rented Sector (PRS)  have been especially impacted by the energy crisis. Some PRS tenants, especially those on low incomes and benefits, have faced homelessness as a result of escalating energy and housing costs, whilst others, higher up the income scale and in full time employment, have shown ‘symptoms’ of fuel poverty for the first time. This can be attributed to a combination of poor housing conditions, high energy prices and rents, and limited regulation and enforcement within the sector.

This brief from Carolyn Snell, Anna Browning, Nicholas Pleace, and Sara Cutler explores emphasises the need for urgent policy action to improve PRS energy efficiency and regulation, a move that would benefit public health, social inclusion, and contribute to Net Zero goals.

Read the brief: An Inescapable Crisis: Fuel Poverty and the Private Rented Sector (PDF , 98kb)

DOI link

This policy brief finds that those living in single-occupancy non-commissioned exempt accommodation were better supported and with better social and housing conditions, compared to those in multi-occupancy accommodation.

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Summary: Housing associations hold a critical public health role as providers of supported housing, including non-commissioned exempt accommodation (NCEA). Currently, supported housing is not a formal part of the health or social care system, and the low profile and uncertainty about its role has created threats to its funding. While more systemic changes are needed, in the interim, housing associations can work towards best practice in the sector. Recommendations below based on a rapid review of supported housing outcomes related to health, wellbeing and inequality and interviews with people in NCEA in Bradford.

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This brief examines how supported housing is an important public health asset and needs to be better recognised as such in national and local policy, including funding decisions. 

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This briefing highlights findings from our research with community food organisations and experts working across the UK. It provides recommendations for policymakers and any other interested parties in addressing food insecurity in families at a national level. This briefing is particularly relevant for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, especially in developing a new Food Security Strategy, as well as the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It is also intended to inform national policy on addressing poverty more broadly, including the government’s Child Poverty Strategy.

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This brief, written by Dr Sophie Mackinder, examines the G20 Initiative for Early Child Development, agreed at the 2018 Leader’s summit and recommends what the UK can do to make sure that it plays a leading role in ensuring that the G20 lives up to these commitments. 

Read the policy brief: Meeting G20 Commitments policy brief (PDF , 140kb)

This brief was written by Dr Graham Gill, Cindy Leung, Rosario Neyra and Izzie Salter and looks at what impact local and combined authorities can have in helping to accelerate and enable community-led housing project development by facilitating access to land, financial, intellectual, social, and human resources.

Read the policy brief: Developing Community-Led Housing policy brief (PDF , 617kb)

A new policy brief produced by researchers from York and Fair Food Futures UK explores the role of community food organisations in tackling food insecurity in the UK.

Read the policy brief: Fair Food Futures UK: Tackling food insecurity policy brief (PDF , 269kb)

Read the full report: Tackling Food Insecurity report (PDF , 429kb)

In this follow up to a previous policy brief, the Cost of Living research group respond to the news that the Household Support Fund will be extended as part of the spring budget.

Read the policy brief: Household Support Fund Policy Brief - March 2024 (PDF , 173kb)

This policy brief, published by University of York’s Cost of Living research group, explores the link between fuel poverty and homelessness. The brief, written by Professors Nicholas Pleace and Carolyn Snell explains how the energy crisis has been ‘the last straw’ for many people struggling with housing costs.

Read the policy brief: Homelessness and Fuel Poverty policy brief (PDF , 364kb)

This Policy Brief from Dr Jed Meers, Dr Kit Colliver, Professor John Hudson and Professor Neil Lunt from University of York Cost of Living Research Group (CoLRG) examines the future of the Household Support Fund and its importance in supporting the needs of low-income households and activities in the third sector.

Read the policy brief: Household Support Fund policy brief (PDF , 416kb)

Getting the Child Poverty Strategy right

This new report from The York Policy Engine's Cost of Living research group examines the reasons for growing child poverty in the UK over the past ten years, and outlines an ambitious strategy that the new government should take to confront this reality.

Read the report: Getting the Child Poverty strategy right (PDF , 1,792kb)

Cost of Living report

This 2023 report from The York Policy Engine's Cost of Living Research Group, titled: "Sticking Plasters and Systemic Solutions", details growing levels of inequality across the nation.

Read the report: Sticking Plasters and Systemic Solutions report (PDF , 2,577kb)

The video games sector is one of the UK’s fastest-growing creative industries. In 2019 it contributed £2.8 billion to the economy and employed 27,000 people. This brief by Dr Bethan Jones advocates for matching education to the needs of the UK's games industry.

Read the policy brief: SIGN policy brief - Employability in the video games industry (PDF , 610kb)

The Screen Industries Growth Network (SIGN) and XR Stories were funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to stimulate the development of the screen industries in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Exclusionary practices, discrimination and exploitation are common and long-standing problems in the screen industries. Both projects aimed to embed diversity and inclusion in all activities to address them. 

As the projects ended, we commissioned AdvanceHE to evaluate what they did and how they did it and develop recommendations for similar projects.

Read the policy brief: SIGN policy brief - Embedding EDI into research programmes (PDF , 802kb)

Film and TV tourism has a big economic impact in the UK. A 2021 report by the BFI shows that two thirds of tourists who visit the UK are influenced by locations and landmarks from British-made films and TV programmes, and visitors spent an estimated £892.6 million in film-related tourism in 2019.  

Screen tourism also has cultural, economic and environmental implications for local communities. But it can also bring more visitors to locations that lack the infrastructure to deal with them have a negative environmental impact

As digital and social media become ever more popular, fans are sharing locations they have visited and increasingly act as unofficial marketers for screen tourism. This unpaid labour is sometimes exploited by studios and other organisations, and this needs to be addressed.

In this brief, Dr Bethan Jones makes the case that sustainability should also be addressed by studios, local authorities and other organisations involved in filming, before filming takes place, e.g. engaging with fan communities and creating sustainable screen tourism toolkits. 

Read the policy brief: SIGN policy brief - Screen Tourism (PDF , 1,052kb)

XR technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are a growing part of entertainment, at home and at cultural venues such as cinemas, galleries and museums.

Sales of VR headsets grew 92% from 2020 to 2021, and it’s projected that by 2026 the VR market will be worth US$16 billion.

This policy brief from XR Stories explores the need for new regulation of the production of XR content, so that XR is:

• fair for producers and offers viable business models.
• safe for children,
• accessible for all.

Read the policy brief: XR Stories policy brief - Creative XR Tech Disruption (PDF , 1,297kb)

This policy brief examines how universities can support businesses in the creative industries to innovate.

Through their work at XR Stories, it's recognised that creative practice can be understood as a form of R&D. R&D across the creative industries involves a combination of:
• artistic practice and creative development
• performance craft and technological innovation

In the creative industries, it can be difficult for staff across artistic, academic and technological domains to collaborate effectively with one another. This is because:
• different disciplines involve different approaches
• a variety of workflows are in use
• project participants may use different terminology

Creative producers can help navigate these difficulties.

Read the policy brief: XR Stories: Universities and R&D for creative industries (PDF , 628kb)

There is huge potential for the UK film and television industries to expand their use of virtual production  techniques. But sector growth is limited by the skills shortage in the screen industries, and a lack of facilities.

The government needs to prioritise action to develop and retain the skills and infrastructure the UK requires for its virtual production industry to grow. 

Virtual production also offers ways to address the sector’s issues with:
• inclusion
• diversity
• equality
• accessibility
• environmental impact

This policy brief recommends more research into how this potential can be fully realised. 

Read the policy brief: XR Stories policy brief - Virtual Production (PDF , 437kb)

This report presents findings from a rapid review of academic literature on supported housing.

The review aimed to:

• Identify and summarise evidence of public health, wellbeing and/or inequality outcomes for different types of supported housing schemes (excluding programmes already well known within the sector such as Housing First (1) as was requested by the immediate audience for this rapid review) across different groups supported
• Identify factors that underpin the effectiveness in achieving different outcomes
• Draw lessons that could be used to inform how local authorities review supported housing in their area and develop strategies for the sector

Read the report: Supported Housing Report (PDF , 1,912kb)