Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has appointed independent advisors to help the Department's work on the future sustainability of Rugby League.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
To support the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby Limited on their plans for the future of professional Rugby Union, Government appointed Rugby Football League’s former CEO Ralph Rimmer and Chris Pilling of UK Sport to work with the sport’s authorities.
The independent advisers’ remit only extended to cover issues facing Rugby Union.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department has spent on support for (a) Rugby Union and (b) Rugby League clubs in each year since 1 March 2020.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Government provides the majority of its support for Rugby Union and Rugby League through its arms-length body Sport England. A breakdown of funding for each year for both sports is outlined below:
Rugby Union
2020/21- £26,305,065 (includes £21,565,000 of COVID-19 Sport Winter Survival Package provided to the RFU)
2021/22 - £1,484,441
2022/23 - £15,185,674 (This includes £12,505,000 of System partner funding provided to the RFU to grow and develop the sport between the years 2022 and 2027)
2023/24 - £5,737,648
Rugby Union also received £160 million through the Sport Survival Package, helping professional and community sport clubs survive the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and ensure the continuation of sport competitions and events.
Rugby League
2020/21 - £7,044,354
2021/22 - £10,860,922
2022/23 - £10,849,990
2023/24 - £886,207 (The Sport England funding register is only updated to December 2023 at this point, so funding awarded since December has not been captured in this sum)
Rugby League also received £17.1 million through the Sport Survival Package, which included grant funding to support the delivery of the Rugby League World Cup in 2022.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department has spent on support for grassroots amateur Rugby League clubs since 5 March 2021.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority and we recognise the importance that high quality facilities play in encouraging people to take part in sport and ensuring participation rates continue to grow. Our new strategy ‘Get Active’ sets out our unapologetic ambition to build a more active nation, with a target to get 3.5 million more people classed as ‘active’ by 2030.
Between 2021 and 2025, the UK Government has committed over £400 million to multi-sport grassroots facilities across the UK. This is all part of our mission to ensure every community has the pitches and facilities it needs.
We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England - which receives £323m in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Since 2021, Sport England has provided over £22.6m of support to programmes which facilitate participation in grassroots rugby league.
In partnership with the National Lottery, Sport England has also supported the ‘CreatedBy’ capital grants programme. Which delivered £26.4m in legacy funding to celebrate England’s hosting of the 2022 Rugby League World Cup, providing investment in facilities and equipment to encourage participation.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the findings and recommendations of the Rodrigues inquiry, regarding the experiences of Liverpool FC fans at the Champion's League Final at the Stade de France in 2022, what plans they have to discuss with the government of France the impact on English rugby fans of the crowd control measures in place at the Rugby World Cup match at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on 9 September.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
After some spectators experienced delays entering the Stade Vélodrome in Marseilles on 9 September, officials from HM Government engaged with the French authorities and their counterparts in the France 2023 Organising Committee and have received reassurance that improvements, including clearer signage, will be in place for future Rugby World Cup 2023 matches.
Improvements were in place for matches on Sunday 10 September. Officials continue to engage with the French authorities on security arrangements for the tournament more broadly.
The safety of all attendees at sporting events is of the highest importance to HM Government and the Secretary of State and the Sports Minister have engaged with their counterparts regularly following the Champions League Final in Paris in 2022. We continue to consider and reflect on the lessons learned from the events in Paris in 2022 to inform planning for the UEFA Champions League Final in 2024 at Wembley, as well as the UK and Ireland’s EURO 2028 bid.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with her French counterparts on the safety of British supporters at sporting events in France in the context of the experience of (a) Liverpool fans at the Stade de France in 2022, and (b) Rugby fans in Marseille in 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Following some spectators experiencing delays entering the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on 9 September, HM Government officials engaged with the French authorities and counterparts at the France 2023 Organising Committee and have received reassurance that improvements, including clearer signage, will be in place for future Rugby World Cup 2023 matches.
Improvements were in place for matches on Sunday 10 September and we continue to engage with the French authorities on security arrangements for the tournament.
The safety of all attendees at sporting events is of the highest importance to the government and the Secretary of State and I have engaged with counterparts regularly following the Champions League Final in Paris in 2022. We continue to consider and reflect on the lessons learned from the events witnessed in Paris in 2022 to inform planning for the UEFA Champions League Final in 2024 at Wembley, as well as our UK and Ireland EURO 2028 bid.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the financial stability of Premiership rugby clubs.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government recognises the recent challenges faced by Rugby Union. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government went above and beyond through the Sports Survival Package to provide unprecedented levels of financial support to sports clubs, including rugby union clubs, to ensure their survival.
The Government is clear that robust governance is essential to sustainable and successful sport. The respective National Governing Body is responsible for the governance of their sport. In the case of Rugby Union, the Government is working closely with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premiership Rugby League (PRL).
The Government shares the concerns of fans about where the game goes next, so has appointed two expert independent advisers to work with the RFU and PRL on their plans to secure the future of professional rugby union. They will report their recommendations to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport later in the summer.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 107201, if he will list the value of the loans made to each of those 15 sports.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Sport Survival Package distributed a total of £264.8 million funding (loan and grant funding) to over 1,685 organisations across 15 sports to ensure their survival throughout the pandemic.
£218,271,393 was provided through loans to the sports listed below:
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2022 to Question 87999, if he will provide a breakdown listing (a) the 15 sports that received loans and (b) the total number of loans allocated to each.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Sport Survival Package distributed a total of £264.8 million funding (loan and grant funding) across 15 sports to ensure their survival throughout the pandemic.
The number of loans issued to sports and their organisations is as follows: one loan was issued to athletics, 10 loans were issued to basketball, 35 loans were issued to football, one loan was issued to horse racing, five loans were issued to ice hockey, five loans were issued to motorsport, five loans were issued to netball, one loan was issued for non-ticketed events, 27 loans were issued to rugby league, 103 loans were issued to rugby union and one loan was issued to tennis.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support is being given to (a) football clubs and (b) rugby league clubs who own their stadium to assist with increased utility costs.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government recognises the importance of football and rugby league clubs, both professional and at grassroots level, which provide valuable opportunities for communities to come together and to take part in sport.
We understand that the rise in utility costs is having an impact on organisations of all sizes. In September we announced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, under which businesses and other non-domestic energy users are offered support. This includes support to football and rugby league clubs.
After an initial six months of the scheme, the Government will provide ongoing focused support for vulnerable industries. A review is currently underway to determine where this should be targeted.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to promote British sport.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to building on the UK’s world-leading sporting reputation, and we are supporting our athletes and international sport activity through over £77 million investment per year in UK Sport for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic cycle.
We also ensure the UK is a global focus for sport through our hosting of major sporting events. This year has seen us successfully host a number of major sporting events, including the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, UEFA Women’s Euros and the Rugby League World Cup.
Looking ahead, we continue to build on our pipeline of events hosted in the UK between now and 2030. These include the UCI World Cycling Championships in Glasgow in 2023, the return of the UEFA Champions League Final to Wembley in 2024, the women’s Rugby World Cup in England in 2025, the European Athletics Championships 2026 in Birmingham, as well as both the 2026 Women's T20 Cricket World Cup (England and Wales) and the 2030 Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup (UK and Ireland). We are also supporting a UK & Ireland bid for the UEFA European Championships 2028.