Yorkshire County Cricket Club: Racial Discrimination

(asked on 12th November 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the allegations of racism affecting Yorkshire County Cricket club on Black and minority ethnic people.


Answered by
Nigel Huddleston Portrait
Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 18th November 2021

There is no place for racism in sport or anywhere in society. I am extremely concerned by the recent reports of racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club and welcome the steps taken by the ECB to launch an investigation into the matter. This must be transparent and swift, for the benefit of cricket. The ECB must carry out their investigation unhindered, but the Government will be monitoring the situation at Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the ECB closely, and will take further action if needed.

The government is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion, which is at the heart of our strategy ‘Sporting Future’. In June 2021 Sport England, UK Sport and the other home nations’ sports councils published the results of a detailed, independent review into tackling racism and racial inequality in sport.The findings make clear that racism and racial inequalities still exist within sport in the UK and that there are long standing issues, which have resulted in ethnically diverse communities being consistently disadvantaged. Each council is now working at pace to develop their own specific action plans to further deliver on these commitments and address the recommendations from the review.

In addition, the forthcoming update of UK Sport and Sport England’s Code for Sports Governance will place an increased focus on diversity in decision making and ensuring that sports organisations reflect the community they serve. Sports receiving the most funding will be required to agree a diversity and inclusion action plan with Sport England and UK Sport, which will be published and updated annually.

There is still more to do though, and we will continue to work with all sports to combat racism both in person and online.

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