Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many members of the Government will be attending the Paris Olympic Games.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We wish Team GB and ParalympicsGB every success at what promise to be very special Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. Attendance by members of His Majesty's Government at Paris 2024 remains under consideration.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with her Irish counterpart on the potential merits of a joint bid to host the 2036 Summer Olympic Games.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The UK has continued to build its reputation as a world-leading host of the biggest major sporting events since the London Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012.
Neither I nor the Secretary of State have had any discussions with Irish counterparts on the consideration of either a UK or joint bid for the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Continuity Fund (UK Sport).
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The department agrees objectives and KPIs for UK Sport’s grant funding and their board allocates funding in accordance with those objectives. The department and its public bodies deliver all grant funding in line with the Government Functional Standard GovS 015: Grants.
The Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on Olympic and Paralympic sports in the UK, including the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The Continuity fund was set up by UK Sport specifically to help mitigate the adverse impact of Covid-19 on the operational and financial health of NGBs, and to help in navigating a significantly different operating environment. It was essential to ensuring that British sports and athletes arrived at the disrupted Tokyo 2020 Games in the best position possible and helped ensure that Great Britain and Northern Ireland won 64 medals at the Olympics and 124 medals at the Paralympics.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the ALB - UK Sport- World Class Programme Funding.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The department agrees objectives and KPIs for UK Sport’s grant funding and their board allocates funding in accordance with those objectives. The department and its public bodies deliver all grant funding in line with the Government Functional Standard GovS 015: Grants.
UK Sport World Class Programme funding supports the delivery of success at the world's most significant sporting events. It invests in world leading coaching, medical support and training facilities so that British athletes with potential to succeed on the world stage can arrive at an Olympic and Paralympic Games as one of the best prepared teams in the world. This funding helped to ensure that at the Tokyo 2020 Games, Great Britain and Northern Ireland won 64 medals at the Olympics and 124 medals at the Paralympics.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the ALB - UK Sport- Aspiration Fund.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The department agrees objectives and KPIs for UK Sport’s grant funding and their board allocates funding in accordance with those objectives. The department and its public bodies deliver all grant funding in line with the Government Functional Standard GovS 015: Grants.
The Aspiration Fund aims to support sports who do not currently receive full UK Sport World Class Programme funding to develop plans to help teams and athletes realise ambitions at future Olympic and Paralympic Games. This fund is central to delivering on UK Sport’s ambition of powering a broader, more diverse range of champions in a wider variety of Olympic and Paralympic sports.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the British Olympic Association about the possibility of British athletes boycotting the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are currently engaged with other countries in our ‘like-minded’ coalition regarding the International Olympic Committee’s recommendations to International Federations, published on 28 March, on neutrality conditions for Russian and Belarusian athletes.
Athlete participation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games is a matter for the British Olympic and British Paralympic Associations, which operate independently of the Government. The Government’s long-standing position is that a boycott would wrongly deny British athletes the chance to reach the pinnacle of their careers.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Grey-Thompson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they have issued to sporting representatives of (1) Team GB, and (2) Paralympics GB, participating in the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games regarding the exercise of fundamental human rights in China.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have provided specific advice to the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations, including in respect of security, Chinese law and society, to ensure Team GB and Paralympics GB are as well prepared as possible for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing. We wish our athletes every success and they will continue to have our full support throughout the games. Officials in Beijing stand ready to provide consular assistance if needed.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has provided guidance to sporting representatives of Great Britain participating in the Beijing 2022 Winter Games on the exercise of fundamental human rights in that country.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We have provided specific advice to the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations, including in respect of security, Chinese law and society, to ensure Team GB and Paralympics GB are as well prepared as possible for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing. We wish our athletes every success and they will continue to have our full support throughout the games. Officials in Beijing stand ready to provide consular assistance if needed.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk to British athletes exercising their freedom of speech while attending the Winter Olympics in China, following reported comments from a Chinese official about "punishment" for those who act or speak "against the Olympic spirit"; and what steps they are taking, if any, to protect British athletes.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have provided specific advice to the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations, including in respect of security, Chinese law and society, to ensure Team GB and Paralympics GB are as well prepared as possible for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing. We wish our athletes every success and they will continue to have our full support throughout the games. Officials in Beijing stand ready to provide consular assistance if needed.