Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the funding through UK Sport of UK athletes who were due to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and who have lost their funding due to restrictions on activity resulting from the COVID-19 emergency.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government remains committed to supporting our elite athletes and we will continue to work with UK Sport in ensuring that our athletes are assisted through this difficult period. Olympic and Paralympic sport is not immune from the impact of Covid-19 and the postponement of Tokyo 2020 has significant financial implications for our high performance system. UK Sport is working hard to identify the wide ranging impacts and scenarios and is in close contact with the Government to establish how best to support our summer Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes to be ready for the Tokyo Games when they do take place.
UK Sport is also guaranteeing that Athlete Performance Awards (APA) will continue to be paid and is taking a flexible approach to NGB investments within their grant awards. UK Sport is working closely with sports to be able to manage this approach.
Team GB’s historic medal haul in Rio was an amazing achievement and our athletes made the country incredibly proud. I am confident that this success will continue through to Tokyo next summer.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ask UK Sport to provide financial support for rugby sevens teams ahead of the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after their RFU funding expires in August.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Decisions on elite Olympic and Paralympic funding allocations are for UK Sport. Having delivered our greatest Olympic performance in a century at Rio in 2016, It is crucial that funding is invested strategically in the right sports, the right athletes and the right support programmes.
We continue to work with UK Sport and sports bodies to support our athletes and sports in the run-up to the Tokyo Games in 2021. We want the Tokyo Games to be a success and will work alongside everyone involved to help achieve this.
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.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the professional playing opportunities available to women’s rugby sevens teams; and what plans they have to ask UK Sport to provide financial support for the Great Britain Women’s Olympic Rugby Sevens programme.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Minister for Sport met with sport bodies including the RFU and RFL and Women in Sport in June 2020 to explore the new challenges COVID-19 has brought and discuss what can be done to address these. There was a shared commitment amongst sports to protect investment in women’s sport and promote its growth.
Decisions on elite Olympic and Paralympic funding allocations are for UK Sport, but we are committed to helping women’s sport come out of the current crisis stronger than ever and will be working closely with the sector to ensure that happens.