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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made in restoring shooting to the range of sports in the Commonwealth Games.

The decision on which core and optional sports are included in the Commonwealth Games sports programme rests with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and its constituent members. A decision on the status of shooting as an optional sport was taken at the 2015 Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly, and also reaffirmed in 2016, when the new CGF Constitution was approved.

Shooting was not included at point of bid in the sport programme for the 2022 Games in Birmingham, but following interest from a number of the optional sports and disciplines, the Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee has recently concluded an Additional Sports review and costing exercise, considering the merits of adding additional sports, including shooting, to the Games within available resources. The review considered financial considerations and the potential for additional revenue generation, the availability of suitable venues, and alignment with the CGF Constitution and the objectives of Games partners. It also considered submissions from each of the sports concerned. Based on the conclusions from the review, the Organising Committee’s recommendation was to support the inclusion of Women’s Cricket, Beach Volleyball and Para Table Tennis, but not to add Shooting or Archery to the programme for Birmingham.This recommendation was subsequently approved by the CGF Executive Board, and confirmed by a vote of the Commonwealth Games Federation’s membership, who make the final decision on the matter. Looking ahead, any consideration of shooting’s inclusion in future games will be a matter for the Commonwealth Games Federation, and the Organising Committees of future Games.

The Government does recognise the strength of feeling on the matter among the shooting community, and the desire to have an opportunity to showcase the sport in 2022, and as such I have spoken to the Commonwealth Games Federation regarding the matter. They have agreed to advise British Shooting on the next steps for taking forward proposals for an event for Commonwealth shooters, to be delivered separately from the Games. The responsibility for any event would sit with British Shooting, but I hope that this will give the shooting community in the UK the opportunity to compete against shooters from across the Commonwealth in a UK event in 2022.