Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to work with sports authorities to help reduce discriminatory abuse in UK soccer following several recent reports of alleged racial abuse.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Tackling discrimination is at the heart of the cross-government sport strategy "Sporting Future" and we want sport to be at the forefront of equality. We fully support a zero tolerance stance and we will continue to work with National Governing Bodies of Sport and organisations such as Kick It Out, Stonewall and Women in Football to tackle discrimination in local, national and international sport.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on reducing domestic violence during football games.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This Government is committed to transforming the response to domestic abuse and on 8 March we launched a consultation seeking views on a range of options to ensure victims are afforded the greatest possible protection and perpetrators are brought to justice. The consultation outlined a range of legislative proposals for a landmark Domestic Abuse Bill, together with a package of non-legislative measures.
As we develop the proposals following feedback from the consultation, we are in regular communication with other Government departments including the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, using forums such as the Inter-Ministerial Group on Violence against Women and Girls, in order to discuss how to transform the government’s response to domestic abuse.
We plan to publish our consultation response and draft Domestic Abuse Bill later this session.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the convictions of Barry Bennell and George Ormond for serious offences of non-recent sexual abuse against multiple victims, what plans they have to review and improve the safeguarding of children in sports.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Since the first allegations of non-recent abuse in football became public in November 2016, DCMS has initiated a significant programme of work with Sport England and the NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit to assess the current safeguarding landscape in sport and strengthen provision wherever possible.
All organisations in receipt of public funding from Sport England and UK Sport have been required to meet the standards set out in the Code for Sports Governance since April 2017. The Code contains specific obligations around safeguarding, including a requirement for national governing bodies to adhere to the Standards for Safeguarding and Protecting Children in Sport, which are issued by the Child Protection in Sport Unit.
We have also taken steps to promote best practice in non-funded sports including launching the Code of Safeguarding in Martial Arts in March 2018. The code sets consistent standards and provides parents with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about where to send their children for instruction.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many junior football coaches have been charged with sexual offences in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Newton
These data are not held by Government. The police take any allegation of abuse very seriously. A number of forces are investigating the allegations of abuse in football. Operation Hydrant is providing operational coordination of the allegations received by police forces across the country regarding non-recent abuse in football.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) individuals, (b) agents and (c) sports clubs are being investigated by the HM Revenue and Customs dedicated team on tax avoidance in the sports and entertainment industries.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HMRC does not have a dedicated team dealing with tax avoidance in the sports and entertainment industries. HMRC has a project looking at all compliance risks in football to ensure that Football Clubs, players, managers and agents pay the correct amount of tax. HMRC is currently investigating 67 footballers, 39 football clubs and 13 agents for a range of issues including image rights abuse and are looking into more than 100 footballers in relation to the use of tax avoidance schemes.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the amount of revenue lost to the Exchequer as a result of professional football players and managers concealing income from image rights; and what steps he is taking to prevent that practice.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
There are no specific estimates of concealed income from image rights payments. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) undertakes compliance activity to ensure that football clubs, players and managers pay the correct amount of tax. Since 2014-15 HMRC has brought in over £260m from tackling non-compliance in the football industry. HMRC is currently investigating 67 footballers, 39 football clubs and 13 agents for a range of issues including image rights abuse.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is expected that the inclusion in Operation Hydrant of cases relating to historical abuse in youth football will have an effect on the date on which the inquiry plans to report on abuse at Aston Hall.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Home Office provided £1.8m in 2016/17 to fund Operation Hydrant, which was established to coordinate the national police response to allegations of non-recent child sexual abuse involving persons of prominence or within institutions. Operation Hydrant is providing the same coordinating function for the allegations relating to football that have recently come to light. Resources are being prioritised appropriately to meet this emerging demand while continuing to deliver the national coordination function.
As the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Community Health and Care advised in response to PQ 55902 on 6 December 2016, timescales for any system-wide Serious Case Review or Learning Review about abuse in Aston Hall will depend on the outcome of the police investigation which is the responsibility of Derbyshire Police.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to support people affected by allegations of sexual abuse in football.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Government has committed £7m of funding for organisations supporting victims and survivors of sexual abuse for the current financial year.
The majority of this money is provided directly to Police and Crime Commissioners to support local organisations.
Over half a million pounds was shared between national support organisations, including organisations like NAPAC, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with the football authorities in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland on alleged historical child abuse cases.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
We have had discussions with the Chair and Chief Executive of the Football Association, Greg Clarke and Martin Glenn, and the Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, Gordon Taylor, to ensure that they are working closely with the police and other agencies. Further discussions with the Home Office, police and football authorities in England are planned.
I have also spoken to the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Football Associations. Through the devolved administrations we will continue to engage with the football governing bodies across the United Kingdom to make sure that we work together on this matter.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, under what legislation prosecutions are brought against perpetrators of hate crime and racist abuse.
Answered by Mike Penning
Hate crimes are criminal behaviour and may be prosecuted in England and Wales using the full range of criminal offences. Sections 29 to 32 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 set out racially and religiously aggravated offences covering wounding, assault, damage, harassment (including stalking) and threatening/abusive behaviour which carry higher sentences than equivalent non-aggravated offences. Sections 18 to 23 of the Public Order Act 1986 contain offences of stirring up racial hatred and sections 29B to 29G contain offences of stirring up hatred on grounds of religion or sexual orientation. There is also an offence of racialist chanting at football matches in section 3 of the Football Offences Act 1991.
Sections 145 and 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 make it an aggravating factor for the purposes of sentencing if at the time of committing the offence, or immediately before, the offender demonstrated hostility towards the victim on the basis of their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity or that the offence was motivated by hostility towards persons who had that characteristic. Under paragraph 5(2)(g) of Schedule 21 to the 2003 Act., murder motivated by hostility on the grounds of any of these characteristics attracts a life sentence with a 30 year starting point for the minimum term.