Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with representatives of the tourism industry, including (1) the Tourism Alliance, (2) the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, (3) the London Blue Badge Guides, (4) the Institute of Tourist Guiding, (5) the Association of Professional Tourist Guides, and (6) the British Guild of Tourist Guides, to encourage the return of guided tours to the UK.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Her Majesty’s Government set out our Tourism Recovery Plan in June 2021. This set out our plans for a growing, dynamic, sustainable and world-leading tourism sector reaching its full potential and driving growth across all parts of the UK.
In developing that plan, we engaged with a range of representative groups, in particular through the Tourism Industry Council. We continue to engage with them as we deliver it, as well as with both VisitBritain and VisitEngland which are working with us to support the recovery of tourism across the country, including doing all that we can to ensure the return of guided tours.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that disabled people will be allowed to attend sporting competitions, including events that are part of the pilot programme enabling the safe return of mass gatherings, as COVID-19 regulations ease in England.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Events Research Programme (ERP) is running its first phase of 10-15 pilots in April and May to inform decisions around the safe removal of social distancing at Step 4 of the Roadmap. The pilots will be run across a range of settings, venues, and activities so that findings will support the full reopening of similar settings across multiple sectors.
We fully recognise the importance of these inclusion concerns and are reflecting on issues of diversity, inclusion and equality in the Events Research Programme, ensuring the pilot events cover a range of age groups, ethnicities, geographic location and accessibility.
The pilot events are the first steps to helping all members of the public safely back to mass events and these have been developed under a SAGE framework in line with the latest PHE and DHSC guidance.
Our Science Board has reviewed the Events Research Programme’s approach to clinically extremely vulnerable individuals attending the pilot events.
They strongly urge caution for the clinically extremely vulnerable attending the events on public health grounds, however these groups are not excluded from involvement in the pilots.
All attendees are required to fill out a consent form as part of the sign up process for the research programme, given the increased risk of COVID 19 transmission on account of the relaxation of some risk mitigation factors (social distancing and numbers attending).
For each pilot event, a Public Sector Equality Duty impact assessment is being carried out before each event which considers the impact of this scientific study on groups with protected characteristics, including those with disabilities.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they had with the World Snooker Championship, prior to its decision to exclude clinically vulnerable people from attending the event at the Crucible Theatre in May
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Events Research Programme (ERP) is running its first phase of 10-15 pilots in April and May to inform decisions around the safe removal of social distancing at Step 4 of the Roadmap. The pilots will be run across a range of settings, venues, and activities so that findings will support the full reopening of similar settings across multiple sectors.
We fully recognise the importance of these inclusion concerns and are reflecting on issues of diversity, inclusion and equality in the Events Research Programme, ensuring the pilot events cover a range of age groups, ethnicities, geographic location and accessibility.
The pilot events are the first steps to helping all members of the public safely back to mass events and these have been developed under a SAGE framework in line with the latest PHE and DHSC guidance.
Our Science Board has reviewed the Events Research Programme’s approach to clinically extremely vulnerable individuals attending the pilot events.
They strongly urge caution for the clinically extremely vulnerable attending the events on public health grounds, however these groups are not excluded from involvement in the pilots.
All attendees are required to fill out a consent form as part of the sign up process for the research programme, given the increased risk of COVID 19 transmission on account of the relaxation of some risk mitigation factors (social distancing and numbers attending).
For each pilot event, a Public Sector Equality Duty impact assessment is being carried out before each event which considers the impact of this scientific study on groups with protected characteristics, including those with disabilities.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the decision by the World Snooker Championship to refuse entry to fans that are considered clinically vulnerable to the event at the Crucible Theatre in May, and (2) the consistency of the decision with (a) government guidelines, and (b) equality legislation.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Events Research Programme (ERP) is running its first phase of 10-15 pilots in April and May to inform decisions around the safe removal of social distancing at Step 4 of the Roadmap. The pilots will be run across a range of settings, venues, and activities so that findings will support the full reopening of similar settings across multiple sectors.
We fully recognise the importance of these inclusion concerns and are reflecting on issues of diversity, inclusion and equality in the Events Research Programme, ensuring the pilot events cover a range of age groups, ethnicities, geographic location and accessibility.
The pilot events are the first steps to helping all members of the public safely back to mass events and these have been developed under a SAGE framework in line with the latest PHE and DHSC guidance.
Our Science Board has reviewed the Events Research Programme’s approach to clinically extremely vulnerable individuals attending the pilot events.
They strongly urge caution for the clinically extremely vulnerable attending the events on public health grounds, however these groups are not excluded from involvement in the pilots.
All attendees are required to fill out a consent form as part of the sign up process for the research programme, given the increased risk of COVID 19 transmission on account of the relaxation of some risk mitigation factors (social distancing and numbers attending).
For each pilot event, a Public Sector Equality Duty impact assessment is being carried out before each event which considers the impact of this scientific study on groups with protected characteristics, including those with disabilities.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the Premier League and the Football League about meeting disabled access guidelines at football grounds.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Both the Minister for Disabled People and the Minister for Sport have had discussions and corresponded with both the Premier League and the Football League about improving accessibility at football stadia. The Minister for Sport is meeting the Premier League soon to discuss a range of topics including accessibility and progress with their work plan.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have yet received a report from the Premier League on progress towards the implementation of accessible stadia guidelines by August 2017.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Ministers expect to receive the report from the Premier League on progress by their clubs to implement the Accessible Stadia guidelines shortly. Ministers meet the football authorities regularly to discuss a variety of matters, including accessibility.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the governing bodies of sports other than football about meeting disabled access guidelines at sports stadia.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Ministerial meetings have taken place with the Rugby Football Union and at official level with the Rugby Union Premier League on accessibility. Ministers are aware that there is both good and bad practice on stadium accessibility across a range of other sports. Ministers expect all sports, and all clubs, whose grounds do not make the reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled spectators as set out in the Equality Act 2010 to take action to fulfil this legal obligation.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for revising the terms of reference for the Sports Grounds Safety Authority to ensure that they encompass disabled access requirements at licensed sports stadia.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
As set out in our Sports Strategy, we will enable the Sports Grounds Safety Authority to take on a more formal role in helping sports grounds reach the required standards for accessibility. We are currently in discussions with the SGSA on what role they will play in delivering accessible sports grounds.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to encourage clubs in the Football League to comply with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority's <i>Accessible Stadia</i> guide.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We would encourage the Football League to make a similar commitment to that made by the Premier League that all clubs in that league willcomply with the measures set out in the Accessible Stadia Guide within an agreed timescale.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will ensure that all Premier League clubs comply with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority's <i>Accessible Stadia</i> guide by August 2017, and what steps they will take to monitor progress toward that goal.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Minister for Sport and her officials meet regularly with both the Premier League and the Football League and will ensure that the matter of accessible stadia and compliance with the Accessible Stadia Guide remain high on the agenda with both organisations.