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Written Question
Commonwealth Games 2022: Coronavirus
Wednesday 16th February 2022

Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what facility has been created to assist any competing country at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games to ensure that their (1) athletes, (2) potential athletes, and (3) support staff, are vaccinated against COVID-19 before the start of the games.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee has been in regular contact with Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) through monthly briefings and the recent Chefs de Mission seminar and will soon meet each association’s Chief Medical Officer to discuss all aspects of Covid-19 planning for the Games.


Written Question
Commonwealth Games 2022: Coronavirus
Tuesday 15th February 2022

Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any Commonwealth countries sending competitors to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games have asked for assistance with vaccinating their (1) competitors, and (2) officials, against COVID-19.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

DCMS and the UK Health Security Agency are working closely with the Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee and Commonwealth Games Federation on Covid planning. To date, we are not aware of any Commonwealth Games Associations asking for assistance with vaccinations.


Written Question
Sports Competitors: Coronavirus
Thursday 6th August 2020

Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the funding through UK Sport of UK athletes who were due to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and who have lost their funding due to restrictions on activity resulting from the COVID-19 emergency.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government remains committed to supporting our elite athletes and we will continue to work with UK Sport in ensuring that our athletes are assisted through this difficult period. Olympic and Paralympic sport is not immune from the impact of Covid-19 and the postponement of Tokyo 2020 has significant financial implications for our high performance system. UK Sport is working hard to identify the wide ranging impacts and scenarios and is in close contact with the Government to establish how best to support our summer Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes to be ready for the Tokyo Games when they do take place.

UK Sport is also guaranteeing that Athlete Performance Awards (APA) will continue to be paid and is taking a flexible approach to NGB investments within their grant awards. UK Sport is working closely with sports to be able to manage this approach.

Team GB’s historic medal haul in Rio was an amazing achievement and our athletes made the country incredibly proud. I am confident that this success will continue through to Tokyo next summer.


Written Question
Rugby: Finance
Thursday 6th August 2020

Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ask UK Sport to provide financial support for rugby sevens teams ahead of the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after their RFU funding expires in August.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Decisions on elite Olympic and Paralympic funding allocations are for UK Sport. Having delivered our greatest Olympic performance in a century at Rio in 2016, It is crucial that funding is invested strategically in the right sports, the right athletes and the right support programmes.

We continue to work with UK Sport and sports bodies to support our athletes and sports in the run-up to the Tokyo Games in 2021. We want the Tokyo Games to be a success and will work alongside everyone involved to help achieve this.

The Chancellor announced a host of measures to help businesses, with £330 billion worth of government backed and guaranteed loans to support businesses across the UK. In addition, Sport England, has also announced £210 million of funding to help sport and physical activity organisations deal with the short and long term effects of the pandemic.


Written Question
Rugby: Females
Thursday 6th August 2020

Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the professional playing opportunities available to women’s rugby sevens teams; and what plans they have to ask UK Sport to provide financial support for the Great Britain Women’s Olympic Rugby Sevens programme.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Minister for Sport met with sport bodies including the RFU and RFL and Women in Sport in June 2020 to explore the new challenges COVID-19 has brought and discuss what can be done to address these. There was a shared commitment amongst sports to protect investment in women’s sport and promote its growth.

Decisions on elite Olympic and Paralympic funding allocations are for UK Sport, but we are committed to helping women’s sport come out of the current crisis stronger than ever and will be working closely with the sector to ensure that happens.


Written Question
Charities: Coronavirus
Wednesday 17th June 2020

Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the time it takes for charities to access government support provided in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Government has announced a broad package of support for businesses and charities to ensure that organisations that need support are able to access it. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, and the option to defer VAT payments due between 20 March and 30 June 2020.

In addition, on 8 April the Government announced a £750 million funding package to ensure charities providing frontline services to vulnerable people affected by the pandemic can continue their vital work. We have been focused on distributing these funds as quickly as possible, but balanced with ensuring it reaches those that need it most. Of this, £360 million was to be allocated to individual government departments based on evidence of service need. This funding has now been allocated to government departments, who are using a range of approaches to award funding either directly to charities or through bidding processes. All funding must be spent by the end of October 2020.

£370 million has been allocated to support small and medium sized charities during the pandemic. This includes £60 million funding through the Barnett formula to support charities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Of the £310 million to be spent in England, £200 million has been distributed to the National Lottery Community Fund to award grants through the Coronavirus Community Support Fund. Applications for this fund opened on 22 May and the National Lottery Community Fund is assessing applications in the order in which they are received, in order to award grants as quickly as possible.

In addition, the Government is matching public donations to the BBC Big Night In. The first £20 million of match funding went to the National Emergencies Trust. The 47 local Community Foundations across the UK, including Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland will then provide grant funding to eligible organisations within their community.

Further information on available funds and how to apply for them can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/financial-support-for-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprise-vcse-organisations-to-respond-to-coronavirus-covid-19.


Written Question
Exercise
Wednesday 10th June 2020

Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make a range of physical activities, including dance and sport, available for all age groups in society.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Physical activity is crucial to the health and wellbeing of the nation and, as we set out in Government’s sports strategy Sporting Future, it is important for people of all ages to be active. The national sports council Sport England is responsible for supporting sport and physical activity organisations to promote health and fitness, including dance.

The latest example of this has been the Join the Movement campaign, which has provided tips, advice and guidance on how people can get or stay active in and around the home during lockdown. Sport England have also worked with Public Health England to develop the Active At Home booklet to help older adults without access to the internet keep up their activity levels while isolating.

Sport England have previously developed the We Are Undefeatable campaign, which encourages people with a range of long term health conditions to get active, and the This Girl Can campaign which encourages women to get active regardless of their shape, size and ability.

Sport England’s funding programmes such as their Active Ageing Fund and their Families Fund are helping more people to play sport and take part in physical activity.


Written Question
Sports and Voluntary Organisations: Coronavirus
Tuesday 26th May 2020

Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to publish guidance, including in easy read format, for the charity, voluntary and amateur sports sectors in relation to the support available to them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Information on the current Covid-19 pandemic including the support available to the charity, voluntary and amateur sports sectors can be found on Gov.uk.

Further detail on the support available to sports clubs, including the Sport England Community Emergency Fund, can be found on the Sport England website.

Accessible formats of the guidance are available on request via the Gov.UK website including versions for use with assistive technology.


Written Question
Sports: Coronavirus
Tuesday 26th May 2020

Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to publish guidance on the use of changing rooms during competitive sporting fixtures, in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Government has published guidance on gov.uk allowing the phased return of sport and recreation in line with the latest medical guidance. This guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-phased-return-of-sport-and-recreation. A pdf of the web page is attached.

The current guidance for recreational settings states that indoor facilities, apart from toilets and through-ways should be kept closed.

The guidance also includes a set of recommended minimum practice for Step One of ‘return to training’ (RTT) guidance for elite athletes. This guidance will assist elite sport organisations to deliver a safe return to organised training for its athletes and staff, while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Step Two guidance on a return to close contact training, and Step Three of parameters of Behind Closed Doors competition, will follow in due course.


Written Question
Sports: Coronavirus
Tuesday 26th May 2020

Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to publish guidance on a sport-by-sport basis in relation to the resumption of competitive sport following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Government has published guidance on gov.uk allowing the phased return of sport and recreation in line with the latest medical guidance. This guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-phased-return-of-sport-and-recreation. A pdf of the web page is attached.

The guidance includes a set of recommended minimum practice for Step One of ‘return to training’ (RTT) guidance for elite athletes. This guidance will assist elite sport organisations to deliver a safe return to organised training for its athletes and staff, while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Step Two guidance on a return to close contact training, and Step Three of parameters of Behind Closed Doors competition, will follow in due course.


Whilst the Government does not plan to publish sport-specific guidance, the national governing bodies of sports are producing guidance for the safe, phased return of play, in line with the overarching guidance that the Government has produced.