The government is prepared to force the entertainment industry to improve the way it protects women and children, unless the industry reforms itself first. BBC Newsnight has reported that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will tell a meeting of industry leaders next week that she is ready to make membership of the sector's abuse watchdog compulsory if their response is not strong enough.

Participation in the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority, known as CIISA, is currently voluntary. The body handles confidential whistleblowing reports about bullying and harassment across the creative industries. Making membership compulsory would mean companies could no longer choose whether to sign up to its standards and reporting routes.

What Nandy will tell industry leaders

Nandy is expected to meet senior figures from television, film, publishing and possibly sport next week. She has said she is convening the meeting to "draw a line in the sand" after the conviction of Russell Brand and the publication of allegations against David Walliams.

"A decade and a half on from the revelations about Jimmy Savile and 10 years on from the Me Too movement, we must finally take meaningful steps to end abuse and harassment in sectors where the power imbalances are huge and careers are built on contacts and reputation," Nandy said.

According to Newsnight, the Culture Secretary will deliver two messages at the round table. First, industry leaders should take responsibility and tackle safeguarding themselves. Second, if they do not, the government is prepared to step in, including by forcing participation in CIISA. A government official told the Guardian that the expectation was for voluntary action, adding: "The instinct is that Lisa would like the industries to show they are about to sort this out themselves, but we are not squeamish about stepping in if that does not happen."

The cases behind the intervention

Brand, the former comedian and actor, was convicted of rape and sexual assault and sentenced to ten and a half years in prison. The allegations against Walliams were published days later, after a three-year joint investigation by the Guardian and ITV News. Several women accused Walliams of sexual misconduct and of using his fame and position to pursue young women, including teenagers. Walliams denies any wrongdoing and said in a statement: "I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law."

Walliams was named after he unsuccessfully tried to obtain a High Court injunction to prevent the allegations being published. Mr Justice Nicklin rejected the bid in late October, ruling that the allegations were matters capable of making a significant contribution to public debate. Since the allegations emerged, Walliams has been dropped by his literary agency, Independent Talent Group, and the BBC has begun removing his shows, including Little Britain, from iPlayer. His Labour Party membership has also been suspended.

Calls for better protection for whistleblowers

Comedian Lucy Beaumont, who revealed herself as one of the whistleblowers in the Walliams investigation, has called for better industry standards and clearer ways to raise safeguarding concerns. Speaking on Sky News, she said a young television worker had told her he had to take young girls to Walliams' dressing room and felt they were vulnerable, adding that he felt there was no process for raising what he had seen.

Zelda Perkins, who broke a non-disclosure agreement in 2017 to expose Harvey Weinstein, told Newsnight that CIISA membership must be made mandatory. Campaigners have long argued that non-disclosure agreements and the lack of a clear reporting route leave junior workers with nowhere safe to turn when a powerful figure behaves badly.

It is not yet clear which organisations Nandy will meet, or exactly what she will ask of them. What is clear is that the government is no longer treating this as a matter for the industry alone. If the round table does not produce convincing voluntary change, ministers say legislation to compel participation in the watchdog is on the table.

Sources: LADbible and Broadcast Prism (BBC Newsnight).