Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with sports governing bodies on the prevention of chronic traumatic encephalopathy among professional sportspeople.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount. National Governing Bodies are responsible for the regulation of their sports, and for ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to protect participants from harm. The government expects sports to do all they can to protect their players.
I welcome work by sports to provide practical support to former players who develop neurodegenerative conditions. This includes the work of player associations, who play a valuable role in supporting players by providing short and long-term support to those affected by sporting injuries. I have discussed the issue of dementia with the Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, specifically the need for the Premier League to make progress on their promise to allocate funding towards a new Football Brain Health Fund for players impacted by dementia. The Brain Health Fund was subsequently announced in September 2023. The fund aims to assist former players and their families who have been impacted by dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions.
The Government continues to take the issue of head injuries very seriously. In December 2021 DCMS published its Command Paper report on concussion in sport, outlining the steps the Government is undertaking to help reduce risks associated with head injuries by improving understanding, awareness, prevention and treatment of concussion in sport. As part of this, in April 2023 the Government announced the first UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport, in conjunction with the Sport and Recreation Alliance. This guidance is intended to be a helpful tool in reducing the risks associated with concussion and marks an important step in making sport safer for thousands of people who enjoy sport at a grassroots level, as well as an aid to professional sports.
Further research on the links between health, dementia and contact sport is needed to better understand the issue. To that end, DCMS established a Sports Concussion Research Forum in July 2022 to identify key research questions that need answering in this important area. The research forum is now formulating a report to identify the priority research questions for the sector that need to be addressed, with the final report expected in 2024.
The Government remains committed to working with sports to build on the positive work that is already taking place to mitigate the causes and effects of concussion in sport.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether independent guidance will be issued to sports governing bodies on prevention of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount. National Governing Bodies are responsible for the regulation of their sports, and for ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to protect participants from harm. The government expects sports to do all they can to protect their players.
I welcome work by sports to provide practical support to former players who develop neurodegenerative conditions. This includes the work of player associations, who play a valuable role in supporting players by providing short and long-term support to those affected by sporting injuries. I have discussed the issue of dementia with the Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, specifically the need for the Premier League to make progress on their promise to allocate funding towards a new Football Brain Health Fund for players impacted by dementia. The Brain Health Fund was subsequently announced in September 2023. The fund aims to assist former players and their families who have been impacted by dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions.
The Government continues to take the issue of head injuries very seriously. In December 2021 DCMS published its Command Paper report on concussion in sport, outlining the steps the Government is undertaking to help reduce risks associated with head injuries by improving understanding, awareness, prevention and treatment of concussion in sport. As part of this, in April 2023 the Government announced the first UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport, in conjunction with the Sport and Recreation Alliance. This guidance is intended to be a helpful tool in reducing the risks associated with concussion and marks an important step in making sport safer for thousands of people who enjoy sport at a grassroots level, as well as an aid to professional sports.
Further research on the links between health, dementia and contact sport is needed to better understand the issue. To that end, DCMS established a Sports Concussion Research Forum in July 2022 to identify key research questions that need answering in this important area. The research forum is now formulating a report to identify the priority research questions for the sector that need to be addressed, with the final report expected in 2024.
The Government remains committed to working with sports to build on the positive work that is already taking place to mitigate the causes and effects of concussion in sport.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to (a) enable partnership working and (b) increase collaboration between schools, youth organisations and sport providers.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government recognises the importance of encouraging partnership working between schools, youth organisations, and sports providers to provide opportunities for young people. Our current Enrichment Partnerships pilot, which was a joint bid with the Department for Education, is working closely with schools, youth organisations, councils and enrichment and sports providers to test whether greater coordination locally can enhance school enrichment offers and remove barriers to participation, create efficiencies (reducing the burden on school staff resources) and unlock existing funding and provision.
The Government-funded network of 450 School Games Organisers (SGO) works directly with local schools and sports providers to coordinate inclusive sport competitions across 40 different sports and activities. In the 2022/23 academic year, the SGO network provided over 2.2 million opportunities for children to take part in local, inclusive sport and physical activity.
Our updated statutory guidance and peer review programme for Local Authorities aims to encourage best practice of local youth provision and advice on how to create a sufficient and unified approach to out of school provision for young people. We also are providing £320,000 to Regional Youth Work Units across England (RYWUs) over the next two years, to build upon their current practices and ensure a consistent minimum level of regional leadership. The funding will support RYWUs to influence youth policy, develop partnerships, support and grow the youth workforce, ensure young people's voices are heard, and improve collaboration across the regions.
Working with the Young People Foundation Trust, DCMS also encourages and supports local youth partnerships through the Local Partnerships Fund. The fund is designed to encourage productive connections between youth services and councils, schools, local sporting and smaller community based organisations, as well as local businesses and funders so they can provide a more holistic experience for young people.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the Football Governance Bill.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This Government is committed to introducing a new independent regulator for English football, to protect and promote the sustainability of English football for the benefit of fans and the local communities football clubs serve.
The Government is working at pace to establish an Independent Football Regulator on a statutory footing as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has undertaken an equality impact assessment on the effectiveness of access to elite sport funding pathways for deaf athletes.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including d/Deaf people.
Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. They have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore support around elite competitions and suggest potential improvements.
UK Sport uses funding provided by the Government to support athletes with potential to achieve success in Olympic and Paralympic sports. As the Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport, UK Sport are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event. This is in line with the Government’s approach to other Paralympic sports where competition is not offered in an athlete's particular classification or discipline.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding has been allocated to support deaf athletes at the elite level in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including d/Deaf people.
Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. They have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore support around elite competitions and suggest potential improvements.
UK Sport uses funding provided by the Government to support athletes with potential to achieve success in Olympic and Paralympic sports. As the Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport, UK Sport are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event. This is in line with the Government’s approach to other Paralympic sports where competition is not offered in an athlete's particular classification or discipline.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential adequacy of funding available for elite deaf athletes.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including d/Deaf people.
Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. They have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore support around elite competitions and suggest potential improvements.
UK Sport uses funding provided by the Government to support athletes with potential to achieve success in Olympic and Paralympic sports. As the Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport, UK Sport are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event. This is in line with the Government’s approach to other Paralympic sports where competition is not offered in an athlete's particular classification or discipline.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of piloting alcohol sales in sight of pitch in (a) women’s, (b) National League and (c) League Two football.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As set out in “A sustainable future - reforming club football governance”, the Government acknowledges the case for pilots of alcohol sales in sight of the pitch in the lower leagues as set out in the Fan Led Review of Football Governance, and will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders on this.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department plans to publish the results of the Listed Events: Digital Rights Review.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
We will set out more detail in due course.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many times the National Physical Activity Taskforce has met since it was created; and what progress that taskforce has made towards achieving its targets set out in the Get Active strategy.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The National Physical Activity Taskforce (NPAT) was launched in September 2023 as part of the government sport strategy Get Active, to bring together government departments, the sport sector and independent experts to deliver coordinated and innovative policy that will help encourage people to get active.
The NPAT meets quarterly and has held two productive meetings since its launch, with the next meeting scheduled for March. To make the ambitions of the Sport Strategy a reality requires long term behavioural change and that is why we have set our targets to 2030.
To help reach our target to get 3.5 million more people active by 2030, the Government is investing over £400 million into a wide range of grassroots sports facilities, including park tennis courts and swimming pools between 2021 and 2025. This is on top of the £323m in Exchequer and Lottery Sport England funding provided to help get people active.
We map our trends, targets and trajectories using the Sport England Active Lives Survey, and the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, which provides data and insight into activity levels and behaviours. The NPAT commissions short term-actions and milestones that can be measured to supplement our long term targets. The minutes and actions of each meeting are published on gov.uk.