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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Independent Football Regulator’s ownership rules on (a) smaller and (b) community-owned football clubs.

The Government recognises the different levels of resources and the different ownership models of smaller and community-owned football clubs. That is why the Football Governance Act has designed the owners’ and directors’ tests to be applied by the Independent Football Regulator in a proportionate way in line with its regulatory principles. For example, the Regulator will recognise that an owner’s financial plans and resources required for a smaller club will understandably be very different to that of a Premier League club.

The Act also accounts for community-owned football clubs in its definition of an owner, ensuring that the tests will be applied appropriately.