Sports: Children

(asked on 16th November 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps he has taken to improve the safeguarding of children and young people participating in sport.


Answered by
Nigel Huddleston Portrait
Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 19th November 2020

We are completely committed to doing all we can to ensure children and young people can participate in sport in safe and secure environments. DCMS works closely with Sport England and the NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit to review and strengthen safeguarding provision wherever necessary.

All organisations in receipt of public funding from Sport England and UK Sport have been required to meet the standards set out in the Code for Sports Governance since April 2017. The Code contains specific obligations around safeguarding, including a requirement for national governing bodies to adhere to the Standards for Safeguarding and Protecting Children in Sport, which are issued by the Child Protection in Sport Unit. We have also taken steps to promote best practice in non-funded sports. The Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts was launched in March 2018 which sets consistent standards and provides parents with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about where to send their children for instruction.

We welcome the Ministry of Justice’s commitment to change the law around ‘positions of trust’ in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. We will continue working closely with the Ministry of Justice to ensure that sports coaches are included as part of these legislative changes.

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