Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with (a) FIFA and (b) the FA on the price of tickets for England fans at the World Cup 2026.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government understands the strong interest in ticket pricing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the impact it has on fans.
FIFA is an independent international body with its own governance structures. Ticket pricing is a commercial decision determined solely by the World Cup organisers, which are FIFA and the Host Nations (Canada, Mexico, and the United States).
Representations regarding the interests of fans fall to the respective football associations. The Football Association (FA), Scottish Football Association (SFA), Football Association of Wales (FAW), and Irish Football Association (IFA) are the recognised home nation representatives within the international football structure, and are the appropriate bodies to raise such matters with FIFA.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what criteria her Department used to select the locations of the Young Future Hubs; and for what reason no local authorities in south Yorkshire were chosen.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The eight Young Futures Hubs early adopter locations, published last week, were selected using knife crime and anti-social behaviour metrics, maximising impact of the Young Future Hub by placing them where it will benefit the most at-risk young people. The decision was also taken to have one early adopter per region in England to ensure we could test the best way to reach young people in a diverse range of locations. In Yorkshire and the Humber, Leeds has been chosen to act as an early adopter.
The locations for the remaining 42 Hubs will be determined in due course. The design and implementation of the programme in future years will be informed by our work with early adopters.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of alcohol advertising regulations in reducing (a) cancer and (b) other alcohol-related harms.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As highlighted in the Government’s ‘Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England’, the UK spends a greater proportion of its healthcare budget on diseases caused by excess alcohol consumption than the OECD average. To help tackle this, the Government has committed to introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages to help consumers make more informed, healthier choices.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of outsourcing the licensing of the operation of the professional basketball league on the (a) investments and (b) financial viability of professional basketball clubs in the UK; and if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the British Basketball Federation's governance model.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The licensing of the operation of the professional basketball league is a matter for the British Basketball Federation (British Basketball), the National Governing Body responsible for basketball in Great Britain. The licensing of the operation of the professional basketball league is an ongoing commercial matter for the British Basketball Federation.
The revised Code for Sports Governance sets out the levels of transparency, diversity and inclusion, accountability and integrity that are required from sporting governing bodies, including the British Basketball Federation, in receipt of DCMS and National Lottery funding from UK Sport and/or Sport England (DCMS’ arm’s length bodies). Performance against those factors is kept under review.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the budget to fund UK participants at the 2024 Paris (a) Olympic and (b) Paralympic games was from 2020; and what the proposed budget is for UK participants at the 2028 Los Angeles (a) Olympic and (b) Paralympic games.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
UK Sport has invested £385 million of Exchequer and Lottery funding to support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes over the Paris cycle. More detail of awards is set out here www.uksport.gov.uk/our-work/investing-in-sport/current-funding-awards.
We are fully committed to multi-year funding for our elite sport system and enabling our athletes to excel on the world stage. This means supporting them financially to match and build on their success in Paris, helping them to deliver at LA 2028.
We will set out further details at the Spending Review.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's consultation on the statutory levy on gambling operators, published on 17 October 2023, for what reason the proposed statutory levy rate for remote pools betting was set at 1%.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Higher rates of problem gambling are associated with certain products, particularly those online, compared to most land-based products. We want to take this into account in the design of the statutory levy, as well as the higher operating costs in the land-based sector. Public Health England’s evidence review of gambling-related harms, based on Health Survey data, showed football pools to have a 'problem gambling' rate of 5%, which is higher than the population level which has been at or below 1% for the past 20 years.
The consultation on the design of the statutory levy opened on 17 October and has now closed. Our consultation specifically invited views on the question of levy rates so that the Government has the best available evidence to inform our final policy decisions on the structure of the levy. The Government is carefully considering the evidence received, and we will publish our response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Premier League on its financial fair play rules; and what assessment she has made as to whether future legislation should include penalties for breaching financial fair play rules.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Premier League’s financial fair play rules are a matter for the Premier League and will not be will not be covered by the Football Regulator, which will have a tightly defined scope around ensuring financial sustainability. The Football Regulator will not involve itself in sporting matters or league rules, recognising the Government’s long standing respect for the autonomy of sport.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the independent regulator should have jurisdiction over (a) breaches alleged by the Guardian by the previous owner of Chelsea Roman Abramovitch and (b) other breaches of the financial fair play rules.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Premier League’s financial fair play rules are a matter for the Premier League and will not be will not be covered by the Football Regulator, which will have a tightly defined scope around ensuring financial sustainability. The Football Regulator will not involve itself in sporting matters or league rules, recognising the Government’s long standing respect for the autonomy of sport.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to give the Football Regulator the (a) powers and (b) resources to regulate clubs to ensure any breaches of financial fair play rules are (i) identified and (ii) punished.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Premier League’s financial fair play rules are a matter for the Premier League and will not be will not be covered by the Football Regulator, which will have a tightly defined scope around ensuring financial sustainability. The Football Regulator will not involve itself in sporting matters or league rules, recognising the Government’s long standing respect for the autonomy of sport.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to implement the recommendations of the Fan Led Review of Football Governance.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government published its response to the recommendations of the Fan Led Review of Football Governance in April 2022 and we recognise the need for football to be reformed to ensure the game’s sustainability in the long term.
We are now taking the time to consider the policy. We remain committed to publishing a White Paper setting out our detailed response to the Fan Led Review in due course.