Football Governance Bill [HL]

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay Excerpts

3rd reading
Wednesday 26th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, the passage of this Bill through your Lordships’ House has indeed been a game of two halves—there are more puns coming, I am afraid.

We began our deliberations on the Government’s version of the Bill in November. At Second Reading, I joined the Minister in the thanks that she has just given again to Dame Tracey Crouch and all the fans who contributed to the fan-led review that initiated this process and set out our support for principles including conserving the heritage of football clubs and protecting against rogue owners. At the same time, I highlighted some of the concerns that we had about the changes that the Government had made to the Bill compared with the one in the last Parliament. I am sorry we were not able to persuade the Government about all those concerns, but I am very glad that, thanks to the careful deliberations of your Lordships’ House, the Bill will indeed go to another place in a better state than it started.

I know there was some criticism of the length of time taken in Committee; we certainly seemed to go into injury time before the first half of the match was over, but I do think that some of the cries of “Foul!” were unfounded. Both in Committee and on Report, the majority of amendments came from beyond these Benches, and I am glad that we found areas of consensus even amid the debate and disagreement.

I am grateful for the in-depth knowledge and passionate engagement from noble Lords right across the House and the generous engagement and time provided by the Minister, particularly between Committee and Report, and the many meetings she had—I know that the Secretary of State and the Minister for Sports made themselves available for meetings as well. We are grateful to them all, and I am pleased that we secured some two dozen important concessions on the Bill.

In particular, my noble friends Lady Brady, Lady Evans of Bowes Park, Lord Maude of Horsham and Lord Moynihan secured a new duty to protect the growth of English football. My noble friends Lord Markham and Lord Jackson of Peterborough, along with the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, consistently raised the importance of having light-touch regulation, which I am glad to see reflected in the changes to Clause 8. My noble friend Lord Markham and I also pushed for the interest rate the regulator might charge on unpaid levies to be capped; we are pleased that the Government accepted that.

I want to give particular thanks to my noble friend Lady Brady, who cannot be in her place today but who, as the Minister said, missed a number of important fixtures of her own club to scrutinise the Bill. She brought her extensive and first-hand experience of the commercial workings of football clubs to highlight some of the issues in the Bill. While it is unfortunate that we were not able to persuade the House to protect parachute payments from the redistributive backstop, I know that my noble friend will continue to highlight in your Lordships’ House and beyond how important they are for the financial sustainability of the whole football pyramid.

I would also like to highlight the role of the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Bolton, and the noble Lord, Lord Bassam of Brighton, from the Benches opposite. They probed many areas of the Bill with a perceptible love for the game and secured important amendments, particularly to create a register of interests for those appointed to the new board and expert panel.

I am pleased that the Government saw sense and removed the power of the Secretary of State to amend the definition of the “football season”, which always struck us as an unnecessary power. Of course, I am particularly grateful to the Minister and the Bill team for their considerable engagement with the College of Arms and me to ensure that the Bill avoided the incorrect use of heraldic terms. I am sure that this was not an issue that the noble Baroness and the Bill team thought they would be spending quite as much time on, but I am very glad that we got it right. I hope that, when she receives her own grant of arms, the noble Baroness will find a way to record this legislative monument in her heraldic achievement.

Finally, there was welcome vindication of the hard work of my noble friend Lord Goodman of Wycombe, who argued throughout for the need for post-legislative scrutiny of the Bill; he was joined by others, including the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor. We are glad to see the five-year statutory review that the Government have added. It may prove to be particularly important because, despite the many improvements that your Lordships have made to the Bill, a number of areas remain that we have not been able to resolve.

My noble friend Lord Moylan ably led the charge on trying to ensure that the regulator will not fall foul of UEFA or FIFA rules; I am sorry that we were not able to persuade the Government or the Liberal Democrats of the merits of his rather modest amendment. My noble friends Lord Maude of Horsham and Lord Hayward raised the cost of compliance; we remain concerned about that, and I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Ranger of Northwood, who highlighted the impact that this could have on ticket prices. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Birt, who was joined by an impressive team of his noble friends on the Cross Benches, for their hard work in trying to improve the backstop mechanism; I hope that the Government will continue, as I am sure they will, to engage with noble Lords on this matter, as they said they would as the Bill heads to another place.

This post-match analysis and focus on areas for improvement should not distract us from the considerable progress that we have made together. I am grateful to all the noble Lords whom the Minister highlighted. I am particularly grateful to my teammate—my noble friend Lord Markham—who saved me from describing football terms inaccurately, to the excellent Jamie Tucker from the Opposition Whips’ Office, and to the Minister, the Bill team and her excellent private office. I am sure that the Minister has spent longer on the pitch than she anticipated, but she can pass the Bill to her colleagues in another place much improved thanks to her patient and generous engagement with us all.

As I said at Second Reading, my knowledge of football does not compare with that of other noble Lords. It has always bemused me how a truncated icosahedron kicked around a pitch for 90 minutes can arouse such passion and anguish. We have seen some of that during our debates on the Bill, but, as the referee’s whistle blows, I think that all sides can look back with some satisfaction and say, “Good game”.

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

My Lords, from these Benches, I too thank the Minister, the Bill team and the Secretary of State for the exceptional level of engagement that they have shown in relation to the concerns and interests of noble Lords around the House. It has resulted in a much better Bill, which is of course the function of this House.