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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to minimise the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on women’s sport.

It is vital that we continue to strive for greater equality and opportunity in sport. I am keen that we maintain the focus on women’s sport and build on the fantastic progress made in recent years. In May I wrote to major sporting bodies setting out my expectation that momentum in women's and girl's sport would not be lost because of the pandemic. I followed this letter up with a meeting in June where the sporting bodies and Women in Sport (a charity whose aim is to campaign for increased representation and visibility of women and girls in all aspects of sport) detailed their plans to increase participation levels. I also met with Baroness Sue Campbell in November to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on women’s football. I am committed to helping women’s sport come out of the current crisis stronger than ever and we will continue to work closely with the sector to ensure that happens.