Historical Sexual Abuse (Football) Debate

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Tuesday 29th November 2016

(7 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Karen Bradley Portrait Karen Bradley
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As the hon. Gentleman will know, the Government published the new governance codes for sport on 31 October, and I hope that he welcomes the work we have done to ensure that all sport is subject to proper and appropriate governance. It is important for us to be certain that we can have confidence in our sports governing bodies.

Ian Murray Portrait Ian Murray (Edinburgh South) (Lab)
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I pay tribute to the courage and bravery of those who have exposed this dreadful act. I know that we are talking about historical football abuse, but will the Secretary of State tell us what strategy she has to work with the Department for Education, the devolved Administrations and, indeed, all the governing bodies of all sports to reassure parents that their children are safe when playing sports, and also to reassure the coaches who give up their time, mainly voluntarily, to provide the sporting infrastructure that enables children to participate?

Karen Bradley Portrait Karen Bradley
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I hope the hon. Gentleman will be reassured to know that that is exactly what we are doing. We are writing to the governing bodies of all sports and working across Government to ensure that we have a co-ordinated response.