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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Twentieth Report of the Committee of Public Accounts’ of Session 2024-25 on DCMS management of COVID-19 loans, HC 364, published on 2 April 2025, what steps her Department took to delegate Accounting Officer responsibility for the loans to top–tier rugby union clubs; and, with reference to paragraph 3.9.1 of HM Treasury's document entitled Managing public money, published on 4 May 2023, what assessment she has made of those steps' compatibility with that guidance.

On appointment to the role in 2023, the Permanent Secretary declared her interests and these were recorded in the DCMS Annual Accounts. A conflict management plan was completed which deemed it appropriate that Accounting Officer responsibility for decisions regarding Rugby Union would be delegated. This included Loan Book decisions relating to Rugby Union.

As a result, DCMS’s Chief Finance Officer has delegated Accounting Officer responsibility for matters relating to Rugby Union. This is in line with HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money guidance which states that after declaring the conflict other individuals can have delegated responsibility to make decisions.