Sport Sector: Financial Support

Debate between Lord Randall of Uxbridge and Baroness Barran

Wednesday 25th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I apologise to the noble Lord, but I will have to write to him in response to his question.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I draw attention to my entry in the register as a trustee of the Saracens Foundation. I welcome this much-needed support for sport. I know that my noble friend, as we have heard, and our honourable friend Nigel Huddleston in the other place share my strong support for girls’ and women’s sport. Until we can get back into stadia and watch from the sidelines, is there anything that my noble friend can do to encourage broadcasters to showcase more women’s sport?

Covid-19: Orchestras and Cultural Venues

Debate between Lord Randall of Uxbridge and Baroness Barran

Wednesday 1st July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran]

The “Know Before You Go” scheme that the noble Lord mentioned sounds very sensible. I can only repeat what I already said: active work is going on with all the key sector stakeholders to understand how we can build back better for our cultural sector.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

There will be a large number of performing arts students graduating from universities and drama schools whose short and maybe mid-term job prospects will be looking pretty bleak. I ask my noble friend not to forget the plight of these young people, many of whom would have been joining touring companies, as was mentioned earlier.

[Baroness Barran]

My noble friend is absolutely right: those young graduates should not be forgotten. I think I am right in saying that in the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday there was a particular focus on the importance of opportunity for our young people.

Covid-19: Women’s Sport

Debate between Lord Randall of Uxbridge and Baroness Barran

Tuesday 30th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to support women’s sport after the COVID-19 pandemic.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Barran) (Con)]

My Lords, it is vital that we continue to strive for greater equality and opportunity in sport. I am keen that we maintain the focus on women’s sport and build on the fantastic progress of the last few years. That is why on 29 May we wrote to the Football Association, the Rugby Football Union, the Rugby Football League, the Lawn Tennis Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board to ask about their plans to promote sport at the elite level and to grow women and girls’ wider participation, and how we can support them to do that.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

I thank my noble friend for her Answer. I declare an interest as a trustee of the Saracens Sport Foundation. We know that many girls drop out of sport and physical activity by the age of 14. What does my noble friend think can be done to improve the situation?

[Baroness Barran]

My noble friend is right that more needs to be done to tackle the decline of physical activity through secondary school. One way we are approaching that is through Sport England, which is providing free training for two teachers in every secondary school in England to help foster positive attitudes towards physical education and sport. We recently announced a £17 million investment so that that additional support can go to primary schools as well across the country.