What Age Does Agent Deal with Child instead of Parent 1st

[whitepudding]

Just wanted to know if 16 is the age that Agents start dealing direct with children on their books and if its compulsory at this age.

I have tried to research this question on the is site to no avail, so hoping somebody knows the answer...!

Many thanks x

[cookycrew]

I can't speak for everyone but my dd's agent still contacts me which I prefer. Also, it would be easier/quicker to get a response from me as during a school day dd won't have access to her emails - some castings need a quick response.

[missmoneypenny]

My dd1 is classed as an adult but her agency still email me as well as her, as they know if she misses it I will tell her - my dd2 has just turned 16 and agent still only contacts me - I think they did with dd1 until she was at least 18.

Hope that helps - a lot to expect a 16 year old to sort it all I think - well in my family anyway

[Irishdancer]

When DS was with child agent they still contacted me, he chanced agents to adult at 16 they only contact him, if your child is 16 and looking for adult agent it is better for them to contact adult agent themselves if it's you writing to agent on behalf of then at 16 adult agent might think it's the parent who is pushing the child into acting.

[whitepudding]

Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone!

My DS is 16 1/2 now. He a very mature switched on lad and well able to handle which castings he wants to attend etc.. Only one concern we have is when it comes down to the finances and to ensure Agent is totally upfront with all expenses etc.. In past I've had to question payments not sure a 16 yr old would want to do this.

I suppose best route is to make sure that my DS gives Agent written permission for me to take calls on his behalf when nut around, be a cc: on emails as well as being able to communicate with them if necessary on his behalf.

Best wishes!

[paulears]

This actually a bit of a dodgy area. When I was teaching in college, because the kids were below the age of responsibility - as in 18, we always talked to the parents or guardian, but one student, having serious issues at home instructed us on advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau that we were NOT to contact their parents with permission. The college took legal advice and the answer was that this was correct. Once out of full time education, a child can prevent somebody contacting their parents and the Data Protection Act also provides security for their personal information. The result is that it's up to the "no longer a child, but not quite an adult". They cannot have the status of an over 18, for signing and taking responsibility, but they do have the right to cut the parents/guardian out of the loop. Colleges always get the students to sign a learning agreement, but until they are 18, it's rather pointless.

Agents have the same problem. They know what 16 year olds are like, but if they say DO NOT contact my parents, they can't. Two years of limbo land. Loads of potential problems. So the agent can continue talking to the parents until the young adult says they can't!

[Katymac]

Has that changed Paul with the requirement for full time education until 18?

I had a phone call from the NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) team this week - questioning what DD was doing.....I had great fun telling them & they were very happy to talk to me

[Irishdancer]

I always ask ds to send me his emails so I can look and see what he is going for. Not worried about payments as ds agent like him to get adult money now. Had to email Equaty about some thing this is there reply about how much a 16 year old should get paid. This is what Equaty say about payment for under 18 and over 15
We would not condone under 18s being paid any less that adults

[whitepudding]

Interesting to read what paulears has written.

My DS will legally have to remain in schooling, training or workplace training until the age of 18.

I know that anyone under age of 18 can't enter into and sign a legal contract, therefore a parent or guardian needs to be involved. My DS's agency has just been taken over my somebody new (last person running it was a friend so we had no issues etc., she did contact via me) and they he just come in and straight of decided to go for immediate contact with my DS.

Anyway, myself or DS have no major issue's, the Agent is good just wanted to get things all set straight for future communications, and the legal stuff so neither of us miss things!

Irishdancer I had no idea that over 16's were paid adult rate so that's good to hear!

[Irishdancer]

Ds was allowed to sign from the age of 16 that was when he could not leave school at 17 I thought that he could not sign until 18 he did 2 BBC programs last year when he was 17 and he had to sign so BBC are very careful when it comes to contracts so your son can sign from the time he is 16

[paulears]

He can sign, but until he is 18, it isn't enforceable. This is why you can't get credit until 18. These learning agreements I spoke about are a good example. Not legally back and white, but good enough for the Government to use to authorise the payments of the funding to the colleges. 18 is still the age of responsibility - BUT- the law does allow 16 year olds to sign agreements and make a contract. This is how the 16 year olds can insist colleges may not contact parents. However, up until 18, they could go to court and ask for the contract to be set aside. Even worse, the contract is not valid if its for your trade or business? If you accept money for an engagement, then you are probably 'in business' and not an amateur, who would do it for free - so an agency might cross this line. There just doesn't appear to be any case law yet, so it's best guess.

The school leaving age hasn't changed but you have to remain in some sort of training or work? Reading the rules, they have to be doing 'something' for 20 hours a week, or sign up on a proper course. They can't just do nothing? Apparently some areas are averaging 20 hours a week over the year, some are doing monthly. The National Careers service say something different to the Gov.uk site - they say that even with 20 hours a week of work, you MUST do training too!!

It looks, reading the entire thing, that the idea is that your 16-18 year period must give you some kind of recognised qualification. As arts grade exams have a recognised points value now for these, would these count? No idea? It's a total mess with loads of conflicting advice. One bi of official guidance states you need to stay in education until you get a Level 3 qualification. Great - but some people could stay in education and NEVER get that far. You cannot have a law that demands a degree of intelligence, plainly crazy! The legislation allows for fines, but I can't find anyone receiving one? It's over 8 years now since the directive was agreed, and nobody really knows the rules. I've heard of one college where they run a maths and english GCSE for 16+ kids, which counts as the legal requirement. The college take the money and the kids are on the books but permanently absent. The colleges get money for sign ups, then a bit when they are still there in the middle period and then when the complete. They take the early payments and don't expect to get the final payment. As soon as they are 18, an considered to be legally an adult, the qualification they didn't get just gets forgotten. Great idea, but mangled into a pulp by red tape and bad planning. Some colleges are doing pretty well at this maths and english, with quite decent pass rates, so not a total waste.