Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Helen Grant

Thursday 15th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

6. If he will discuss with the organisers of the Rugby World Cup the use of non-playing facilities at the Ricoh arena for events connected to that tournament.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mrs Helen Grant)]

The selection of host city venues and team training camps is a matter for England 2015, the tournament organisers.

[Mr Cunningham]

Is the Minister aware of the wonderful facilities at the Ricoh arena in Coventry, particularly for sport? There are also restaurants and tourist facilities there. I would like to say that Ministers have been very helpful to Coventry in respect of the Charterhouse project for tourists.

[Mrs Grant]

I do know of the wonderful facilities in Coventry, and I am confident that there will be opportunities for Coventry to benefit from England hosting the rugby world cup. That could include participation in the domestic trophy tour in the Festival of Rugby. I recommend that local authority venues in cities, including the Ricoh arena in Coventry, continue to discuss opportunities with England Rugby 2015.

Coventry City Football Club

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Helen Grant

Tuesday 2nd September 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mrs Helen Grant)]

I thank the hon. Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham) for securing this important debate, and I thank him and others for the valuable contributions they have made this afternoon.

As I have said before, the preservation of football clubs up and down the country remains a matter of great importance to me and to the Government. We debated this issue last October in my first few weeks—days, even—as the new Minister for sport. Since then, the Football League and I have maintained a close interest in the resolution of this unfortunate dispute involving Coventry City football club and the return of Coventry to the city. Football clubs remain a very valuable part of local communities, and every care should be taken by all owners and stakeholders to protect their long-term financial futures.

It has therefore been very sad to see Coventry City football club beset by serious financial trouble in recent years. I know the Football League appreciates that its initial decision to allow Coventry City to temporarily relocate to Northampton was not a popular one with Coventry supporters. Although understandably difficult for supporters to accept, the temporary tenancy at Northampton Town’s Sixfields stadium was deemed to be necessary by the Football League to ensure that Coventry could continue to take its rightful place in the football league in the short term.

Allowing the club to play in Northampton has at least ensured that Coventry was capable of playing its home matches in the league while all parties maintained their efforts to resolve the ongoing disputes. The recent case of Rotherham United demonstrates that the continuation of a club’s presence in the football league at another stadium can be a positive step towards a long-term solution. I am therefore delighted to hear today that the club and stadium owners have agreed terms to get Coventry back playing within the city this season—imminently, in fact—at its home ground.

I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Coventry South, the right hon. Member for Coventry North East (Mr Ainsworth), my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Kenilworth and Southam (Jeremy Wright), my hon. Friends the Members for Nuneaton (Mr Jones) and for Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins) and others who have worked tirelessly with loyal supporters. I shall think of them all when Coventry plays Gillingham at the Ricoh Arena this weekend: it will be a special evening indeed.

There is a great deal of focus on the amount of money in the top tiers of football, but I recognise that many clubs competing in the lower divisions operate on a very different scale. Coventry’s problems are rooted in several years of financial issues that unfortunately are ongoing.

The evidence given to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee by the Football League’s chairman acknowledged that debt is the

“single biggest problem for football.”

I share his belief that if football clubs ensure that their debt is genuinely sustainable, transparency of ownership, supporter buy-in and co-operative ownership will be much easier to deliver.

I share the frustrations of supporters and hon. Members at the football authorities’ slow progress in implementing some of the long promised and much needed reforms to the game, a key part of which is improved supporter engagement at club level.

The football authorities must find ways to improve supporter engagement beyond the customer relationship and recognise supporters as an integral part of clubs’ success. That is why my Department is working very hard on Supporters Direct’s proposal for an expert group on the barriers to supporter ownership in football. We hope to launch the group in the near future. It will include representatives from across football, relevant professional experts and representatives from a variety of supporter-owned clubs and supporters trusts. I am pleased that the proposal retains support across football’s authorities, demonstrating a critical continuing commitment to supporter engagement within the sport.

Supporter representatives on boards and better engagement could and will in many cases lead to fans being better informed about a club’s activities, such as its financial standing and the identity of its owners, and to their being genuinely consulted, as they should be, as part of the club’s decision-making process on matters of real importance, whether financial or cultural. I look forward to the expert group’s recommendations on how more help can be offered to supporters now and in the future.

Having said all that, I must acknowledge the progress made by the football authorities in introducing new rules in recent years, such as a strengthening of the owners and directors test, which has been mentioned and about which I shall say a little more in a moment, as well as a new means and abilities test that requires proof of funds from prospective new owners, an early warning system with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs on tax returns, transfer embargoes, salary caps and the adoption of financial fair play principles across the 92 professional clubs.

Club insolvency has been declining, but it has remained a common problem in recent years. At the same time, TV revenues and match attendances are as high as ever. The implementation of financial fair play principles should lead to responsible spending by clubs and, as a result, I hope, fewer incidents of club insolvency at the top of the pyramid. The strong intention is that the financial fair play regulations will remove the need for football to rely so heavily on the football creditors rule in club insolvencies.

The football creditors rule has been mentioned by all hon. Members who have spoken.

Governance has also been mentioned by many hon. Members. The hon. Member for Coventry South queried whether the Government were doing a U-turn on their governance plans and I assure him that we are certainly not doing that. Governance is essential; it is the foundation of everything and of all good structures. Without decent governance a structure has no chance of surviving; there will be no chance of there being the strength to support a massive structure. It is very important to me personally. I want the football authorities to do what they need to do. A start has been made: there are smaller boards; there is a new licensing system to deal with financial matters; and various changes have been made on supporter engagement, with the introduction of supporter liaison officers. But I want much, much more to be done. I have regular meetings with the football authorities, and I will continue to raise these issues as a matter of urgency, saying that we need to see progress. If progress is not made, we of course have the option of legislation—we always have that option.

[Mr Jim Cunningham]

I do not doubt the sincerity of what the Minister has said, but this has been going on for a number of years. Has she set a deadline? A number of organisations are looking at football in general terms, but does she have a deadline when she will say, “Look, we have not seen enough progress, so we are going to do something about it”? Across the House, we all think that something has to happen. This is not a reflection on the Minister, because she has not been in her post for very long, but we are reaching the point where a deadline needs to be set, in order to get some real action from the Football League.

[Mrs Grant]

I have robust and candid conversations with the football authorities. I agree that we need to see some more progress. Some has been made, but we need more. I will be meeting them on Friday, and I will certainly relay to them what has come out of this debate and the crucial need for us to start to see further progress on a number of matters.

The issue of ownership was raised by all hon. Members in the debate and, in particular, by my hon. Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe. Again, I reassure him that the football authorities really do take club ownership very seriously, which is why the owners and directors test applies to all clubs in the Premier League, Football League and Football Conference, and in the three leagues below.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Helen Grant

Thursday 13th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Grant]

My hon. Friend has made an important point, but I believe that the enhanced checks and requirements that have been introduced by the football authorities are making some difference. I am also hopeful that the Football Association regulatory authority will ensure that changes in club ownership are much more fully scrutinised.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

Is the Minister aware that 12 months ago her predecessor promised us that the Government would present proposals based on the Select Committee’s report? The current situation in Coventry is disgraceful: fans have to make a round trip of about 70 miles to Northampton. When will we see some real action to deal with that?

[Mrs Grant]

I think that we are starting to see some action, but I agree that we need to see more. Last August the Football Association introduced reforms which included smaller boards and a new licensing system to deal with matters relating to ownership, finance and supporters. I think it fair to say that a start has been made, but more needs to be done, and if it is not done, we will legislate.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jim Cunningham and Helen Grant

Thursday 30th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

6. What plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals in respect of football governance and finance.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mrs Helen Grant)]

I will continue to work with football authorities to press for improvements in the game. They have made some significant changes, but my expectation is that they can, and will, make further progress. We will move to legislate if football fails in that task.

[Mr Cunningham]

I am sure the Minister knows about the dispute between Coventry city council and Coventry football club, since I and my colleagues have made representations to her Department in the past. The Culture, Media and Sport Committee report on football governance from July 2011 found the Football Association in need of urgent reform and called on the Government to introduce legislation if drastic changes were not made. In April 2013, the then sports Minister stated that he agreed with the Committee and that his officials had started working up a draft Bill. Where is the Bill? Let us have some action.