Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to reduce racism in sport.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is absolutely no place for racism in sport or anywhere in society. Sport clubs and fans must continue to embrace diversity and tackle racism whenever they encounter it.
The cross-government sport strategy ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation’ seeks to ensure that access to sport is equal for all. Government is supportive of anti-racism initiatives from grassroots to elite sport, including Show Racism the Red Card and Kick It Out. Grassroots sport also receives support in tackling racism from our national sport council, Sport England, who provide free support and learning through its "Club Matters" programme.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to reduce (a) sexism and (b) misogyny in sport.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is no place for sexism and misogyny in sport. It is vital that sports continue to work together to tackle this issue and act on reports of sexism and indeed discrimination of any kind.
We are determined to get more girls and women playing sport and want to see more women in leadership positions across sport too - whether playing, coaching, on the medical and support side, or at board level. This is something we set out in our sport strategy, Sporting Future. Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign is continuing to encourage women and girls to take up sport and physical activity and UK Sport and Sport England’s Code for Sport Governance includes a target of at least 30% gender diversity on boards.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings the Government has had with the Football Association on investment in grassroots football following the collapse of the sale of Wembley.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DCMS officials have met with the FA since the Wembley decision. I met with Martin Glenn, the FA's Chief Executive in November the first of the regular discussions I will have with the FA and the Premier League to reaffirm our commitment to working together to significantly improve the provision and quality of football facilities and increase participation levels, and to deliver wider social benefits. Government in partnership with football is currently investing more money than ever before in community football programmes and facilities and I fully intend the funding levels that go into this area to continue.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings (a) he or (b) his Ministers have had with the Football Association on a World Cup 2030 bid.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Ministers, including the Secretary of State, have regular discussions with The Football Association, on a range of matters. As the Prime Minister said last year, the UK government would support a bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup should the football associations decide to proceed with one. The English FA are working together with the FAs of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland to explore the feasibility of a joint bid.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of sports funding at a grassroots level.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to supporting more people to take part in sport and physical activity so that they can enjoy the significant and wide-ranging benefits that this brings.
Through Sport England, over 2016-2021, government is investing over £1.2 billion in supporting people to be more active, including a specific focus on those people who are inactive and engaging people from underrepresented groups. This is over £170m more than Sport England's previous strategy period (2012/13 – 2015/16).
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to limit children’s exposure to gambling adverts during sporting events.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are strict controls on the content of all gambling advertisements, including broadcast adverts and online. Gambling operators who advertise in the UK must comply with the advertising codes, which aim to ensure gambling advertising does not target or appeal particularly to children or young people. TV adverts must be pre-cleared by Clearcast and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) acts on complaints and proactively checks the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements. The Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising requires all TV and print adverts to carry an 18+ or ‘no under 18s’ message.
As with advertising, sponsorship arrangements must be socially responsible and must never be targeted at children. Operators’ logos must not appear on any commercial merchandising which is designed for children, including replica football shirts in children’s sizes.
Our Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures set out a package of measures to strengthen protections further. These include tougher guidance from the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) on protecting vulnerable people, with further guidance on children and young people due soon, tougher sanctions for operators who breach advertising codes and a multi-million pound safer gambling advertising campaign, which will include responsible gambling messages around sports.
The gambling industry and broadcasters have announced additional initiatives to limit the advertising seen around sport. The Industry Group for Responsible Gambling will amend its advertising code to include a ‘whistle-to-whistle’ ban on all TV betting adverts during pre-watershed live sport, including for 5 minutes before and after play. It has announced that the changes are expected to come into effect in summer. Sky will also offer customers the option to opt out of TV gambling adverts from 2020. These are welcome steps by industry to respond to public concerns, and it is important that all those who benefit from gambling advertising think about how they can be socially responsible. We will continue to monitor issues around advertising and consider any new evidence carefully.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the Government's policy is on safe standing at football matches.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We believe that all-seater stadia are currently the best means to ensure the safety and security of fans at designated football matches in England and Wales, but we continue to work closely with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and football authorities to consider relevant advances in technology and data.
My officials met CFE Research in December 2018 to share emerging findings from the evidence review into standing at football. We expect to receive the final report on the findings of the evidence review shortly.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his timetable is for publishing his review of safe standing in football stadia.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We believe that all-seater stadia are currently the best means to ensure the safety and security of fans at designated football matches in England and Wales, but we continue to work closely with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and football authorities to consider relevant advances in technology and data.
My officials met CFE Research in December 2018 to share emerging findings from the evidence review into standing at football. We expect to receive the final report on the findings of the evidence review shortly.