All Party Writers Group AGM 2026

Annual General Meeting Minutes

Tuesday 11 February 2025

Attendees: Chris Evans MP (Lab), Pete Wishart MP (SNP), the Rt Hon Lord Dubs (Lab), the Rt Hon Lord Spellar (Lab), the Rt Hon Lord Balfe (Con), the Right Hon Lord McCabe (Lab), Derek Twigg MP (Lab), the Right Hon Lord Brennan of Canton (Lab), the Rt Hon Baroness Young of Hornsey (CB), the Right Hon Baroness Winterton (Lab), Matt Western MP (Lab), the Right Hon Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Con), the Right Hon Valerie Vaz MP (Lab), the Rt Hon Earl of Clancarty (CB), the Rt Hon Lord Freyberg (CB), the Rt Hon Lord Norton of Louth (Con), the Rt Hon Sir Desmond Swayne (Con) as External Chair.

1. External Chair and due diligence

The Rt Hon Sir Desmond Swayne fulfilled his role as External Chair, confirming that: the meeting was Quorate; the Election of Officers took place; Income and Expenditure Statements were presented and approved by the Group; the Annual Report was presented and approved by the group; and the Due Diligence Statement was presented and approved by the group.

2. Welcome from the Chair of the APPG for Writers, Chris Evans MP.

Chris Evans MP brought the meeting to order at 11:30. Commenting on the opportunity to amplify literacy through the National Year of Reading 2026, with a focus on granting more opportunities to children and promoting libraries in the UK. The challenges of writers in the face of AI’s rise was noted, with important work to remunerate and compensate writers for past infringements set out to the convening group.

3. Election of APPG Officers and Members (in accordance with new APPG rules)

1. 1. Election of Chair.

Chris Evans MP was proposed and seconded as the Chair, and was voted through unanimously by show of hands by those members present.

2. Election of co/Vice Chair

Sir John Whittingdale MP, Pete Wishart MP and the Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay were proposed as Vice Chairs and were voted through unanimously by show of hands by those members present.

3. Results:

4. Approval of income and expenditure statement, benefits-in-kind and due diligence statement

The group members approved the presented income and expenditure statement, the benefits-in-kind and the due diligence statement unanimously. Benefits-in-kind in the reporting period included the receptions held by the All Party Writers Group and the cost of maintaining a secretariat.

5. Approval of the Purpose Statement and Annual Report of the APPG for Writers (2024-25)

Chris Evans MP invited Thomas Rososchansky to share the review of the year which featured the close of the Government’s consultation on AI and Copyright, Government roundtables on AI and Copyright, and the concerns on the progress of the Data (Use and Access) Bill. Additionally, the Government announced a Freelance Champion, and the confirmation from May 2025 that the UK would retain continuity in its Intellectual Property Exhaustion Regime was welcomed. Comments or feedback were requested for following the meeting.

1. Priorities of the group for the next year:

Chair, Chris Evans MP, invited Thomas Rososchansky to share the priorities of the group for next year before opening the conversation to the group.

In addition to the priorities presented in the year ahead, the Group discussed additional areas of consideration. These include:

• In the year of reading:
  • Supporting initiatives to support literacy and reading for pleasure, especially looking at initiatives focused on the young.
  • Supporting measures to acknowledge the value of reading and importance of access to quality materials for students from primary school into lifelong learning
  • Highlighting the importance of books to members of the group
• The state of independent bookshops
• Continuing to monitor AI technologies and their impact on authors, campaigning for protection of their interests and for licensing solutions to secure fair renumeration where their works are used.
• The promotion and protection of libraries as a cultural staple of the UK.
• Campaign for an increase in the Public Lending Right pot for authors to better remunerate them for the contribution they make to libraries, the Public Lending Right fund has not been increased in over ten years.
• Continuing to campaign for greater creator engagement with government through the freelancer champion following the establishment of the role.
• Supporting the role of writers in providing quality education materials, considering both the year of reading and the recent curriculum review
• Initiatives to support journalists, looking both at the impact of Artificial Intelligence on their work, and measures to support the sustainability of journalism

Expected key costs or in-kind-benefits in the following year would be as follows:

• ALCS provision of Secretariat (estimated £3,001 – £4,500)
• APWG Summer Reception (estimated £7,501 – £9,000 on 24 June)
• APWG Winter Reception (estimated £9,001 – £10,500 on 1 December)

6. Close of meeting