The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Nigel Huddleston)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Fay Jones) for tabling the debate and those who have already contributed; many of them are very knowledgeable on the subject. It is a genuine pleasure to be talking about women’s sport—one of my top political priorities —on my birthday. I can look my daughter in the eye and tell her that this is what I spend my time doing.
It is vital that we continue to strive for greater equality and opportunity in sport. Women’s rugby is a great example of the benefits that sport and physical activity can bring. It boosts self-esteem, builds resilience, is empowering and is fun to play. We have seen a number of successes in the professional game, with the Red Roses winning the women’s six nations championship on 15 out of 24 occasions, and winning the grand slam 14 times and the triple crown 21, although I appreciate that my hon. Friend, being a Welsh MP, might not be as enthusiastic about that celebration as I am.
My hon. Friend articulated the great progress being made by Welsh women’s rugby, which is no surprise for such a proud rugby nation. Sport is primarily a devolved matter, although much of what I have to say applies across the UK.
It is vital that we maintain our focus on women’s sport and build on the fantastic progress made in recent years. I pay tribute to those national governing bodies and competitions that have showcased women’s sport in their behind-closed-doors programmes over recent months. It was great to see the return of the women’s Premier 15s on Saturday, for example.
Sponsorship and commercial investment are key to growing elite sport, so I welcome the recent announcement that Allianz Insurance has agreed a sponsorship deal with the Rugby Football Union, which will see funds flow to women’s rugby teams. That partnership means the Premier 15s, which is the top-flight women’s domestic rugby competition in England, will receive a landmark investment to grow women’s and girls’ rugby, but I recognise the impact that covid has had on sport and that women’s sport has been hit particularly hard.
That is why I met governing bodies, including the RFU, the Rugby Football League and the chief executive officer of the charity Women In Sport, over the summer to explore the challenges covid has brought and discuss what more can be done. I am happy to say that there was a real shared commitment to protecting investment in women’s sport and promoting its growth.
I know covid has had an impact on rugby and the Rugby Football Union has had to make difficult decisions, with cuts to its workforce and a reduction in its investment in grassroots development. I want to take this opportunity to assure hon. Members that I am personally committed to helping women’s sport to come out of the current crisis stronger than ever, and I am working closely with the sector to ensure that that happens. As I have said before at this Dispatch Box, and as I have made clear to sporting bodies in receipt of public funding, I expect a fair share of that public funding to benefit women’s sport and physical activity.
As we have seen in recent months, sports clubs have an impact and reach that goes well beyond sport. During the pandemic, they have proven themselves bedrocks of their communities, hosting test centres, looking after the vulnerable and organising food deliveries. Hon. Members will be aware of the incredibly challenging circumstances that many of our sports currently face. My Department continues to work closely with sports, including both codes of rugby, to understand what support they might need.
In May of this year, rugby league received a £16 million support package from the Government to safeguard the immediate future of the sport for the communities it serves. The Government are also supporting the rugby league with more than £11 million of Sport England investment over the 2017 to 2021 period.
Women’s sport as a whole has come a long way in recent years. To choose just two events, the women’s Six Nations championship and women’s rugby world cup are fantastic events that shine a spotlight on brilliant women rugby stars. We are seeing the popularity of women’s sport continue to grow, with record audiences attending international and domestic women’s events and watching them on television.
These events are inspiring more women and girls to become active. The latest data from Sport England’s Active Lives survey in April this year showed that before covid, there were more than 210,000 more active women compared with the previous year, and we want to continue to encourage more women and girls to get active and build on the momentum that initiatives such as Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign have generated.
Domestically and globally, female rugby participation is growing at a faster rate than male participation. Overall, the RFU has said it is seeing 17% year-on-year growth in participation; as of June this year, there were 40,000 female registered players in more than 400 clubs, up from just 13,000 in 2012. Furthermore, 90,000 girls are taking part in rugby through schools, colleges and universities. The RFU has also developed a range of programmes to encourage women and girls to take part. Inner Warrior is a series of camps, which has benefited from Sport England funding, aimed at introducing women to rugby in a fun and accessible way. The programme started in 2016 and since then 23,000 women have taken part.
The All Schools programme was a 2015 rugby world cup legacy programme, which got 750 more state schools playing rugby and has seen 80,000 teenage girls take part. O2 Touch is a non-contact form of the game, which has 10,000 registered female players. The women and girls’ game remains a priority for the RFL, too, especially in the lead-up to the rugby league world cup in 2021. Its aim is to use the Women’s Super League to raise the profile of the game, increase commercial interest and revenue, and drive participation.
The Government have also helped to secure a wide range of major sporting events in this country for the next few years. The rugby league world cup 2021 will bring additional significant exposure on free-to-air TV. It will also, as my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire mentioned, be the first time that the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments will take place at the same time. It will be a great opportunity to showcase the women’s game and encourage more people to get involved. We are continuing to explore a number of other hosting opportunities across the range of men’s and women’s elite and professional sports.
To conclude, the past few years have seen fantastic progress with women’s sport, including rugby, starting to get the profile it deserves. We definitely have our challenges, as my hon. Friend and others have mentioned, but we want women’s sport to continue to inspire increased participation in sport and physical activity. Women’s rugby is a hugely important part of that, and we will continue to support and raise the profile of it wherever and whenever we can. I once again thank my hon. Friend for securing the debate tonight to shine a light on women’s rugby and the vital role it plays in our communities.
Question put and agreed to.