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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the (1) Football Association, (2) Premier League, and (3) English Football League, to ensure the provision of a police presence at venues where closed football matches are due to take place to discourage the congregation of fans and to enforce social distancing outside such venues.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is having regular discussions with sector and industry bodies to understand the impact of COVID-19 on sport and how we can provide support. This includes the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Heritage chairing a fortnightly meeting with over 25 sporting organisations. Sport is also represented on the department’s Cultural Renewal Taskforce, which is looking at ways to get sectors across the department back up and running.

Government has already published three stages of guidance for the return of elite sporting competition, and guidance for the return of outdoor grassroots sport and recreation. These are available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-phased-return-of-sport-and-recreation

Further guidance will be published in due course to help sporting organisations understand how they can operate safely as lockdown restrictions are further eased in the future.

This is in addition to financial support that has been made available to the sector. The Chancellor announced a host of measures to help businesses, with £330 billion worth of government backed and guaranteed loans to support businesses across the UK. In addition, Sport England, has also announced £210 million of funding to help sport and physical activity organisations deal with the short and long term effects of the pandemic.