Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to make a decision on the timescale for the resumption of grassroots rugby during the period of covid-19 restrictions.

Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. That’s why we made sure that people could exercise at least once a day even during the height of the first period of enhanced national restrictions and why we opened up grassroots sport and leisure facilities as soon as it was safe to do so.

However, as the Prime Minister said on 23 November national restrictions will end on Wednesday 2 December. This will allow both rugby union and rugby league to resume in accordance with their return to play guidance. Higher risk activity such as scrums have been removed from both codes of the game to ensure the risk of transmission is reduced.