Football Governance Bill [HL]

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 11th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Birt, for his amendment. I am grateful for the huge amount of time and effort that the noble Lord has put into considering how we could all further improve this legislation. I also thank him for the amount of time he has given to discussing it with my officials and me over many weeks.

This amendment would see the regulator having to provide an overview of English football’s global appeal in the “state of the game” report. The report is focused on the issues affecting English football so far as relevant to the exercise of the regulator’s functions. The issue that this amendment intends to capture will likely already be captured in the “state of the game” report, as it could impact the regulator’s objectives and duties. We have purposely left the required content of the “state of the game” report broadly to the regulator’s discretion to ensure flexibility and independence. It would not be possible to list every issue worth including, as the list would be too long and doing so would remove the regulator’s ability to prioritise issues and to adjust them over time.

Amendment 22, requiring an updated “state of the game” report if the backstop is triggered, could place a significant burden on the regulator, and might slow the process down significantly. In our view, three months would definitely not be long enough to update a review of English football, given the breadth and depth of relevant issues it must cover. The regulator has to identify the analysis needed, request it from parties, let them respond, analyse it and consult on findings before publishing.

We also have to consider the significant burdens this amendment would place on the regulator, but particularly on smaller clubs. Furthermore, an updated “state of the game” report would be required solely if an application to trigger the backstop was put forward, regardless of whether that application was accepted. Ultimately, a three-month delay in the backstop process, with the burden on both the regulator and the industry to engage with a rushed updated review, would likely be disproportionate to the benefits. I therefore hope the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

When the backstop first has to happen, the “state of the game” report is critical as part of the process. Is the noble Baroness now saying that for any future triggering of the backstop, the “state of the game” report is not part of that process? We thought she had said that it was always part of the triggering process. I may have completely misunderstood, so if the noble Baroness could clarify that, it would be really helpful.

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The issue is whether there would automatically be a “state of the game” report simply because of a request to trigger the process. Once a “state of the game” report is in existence, it may or may not be necessary for it to be updated if somebody triggers the process. In our view, the automatic triggering of an updating of the “state of the game” report is disproportionate. There would already be a report in place. We absolutely intend for a “state of the game” report to be in place before an initial process is triggered. Clearly, it would have to be written within the relevant timeframe in the legislation.