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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help football clubs prepare for the introduction of the Independent Football Regulator.

Following Royal Assent of the Football Governance Act, every effort is being made to ensure that the Independent Football Regulator is up and running as soon as possible.

Consistent and extensive engagement has been maintained with football clubs and competition owners throughout the passage of the Football Governance Act. The Department will continue to meet with key stakeholders as the focus transitions to the implementation of the new regime.

The Regulator itself is helping prepare the industry for the implementation of the Act. It has started consulting on how the new regime will work and undertaken its first conference to explain how the Regulator will operate, where all clubs from the Premier League to the National League were invited.