Rugby: Disadvantaged

(asked on 21st January 2020) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of The Rugby League Dividend report, published by the Rugby Football League on 22 August 2019, on the economic and social impact of rugby league in disadvantaged communities and the role of sport in promoting social mobility.


Answered by
Baroness Barran Portrait
Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 6th February 2020

The Government welcomes the RFL’s Dividend Report which demonstrates the valuable contribution that rugby league can have within communities. Rugby League is a fantastic example of how sport and physical activity can play a leading role in engaging people from every background.

The Government’s Sporting Future strategy is explicit that everyone, regardless of background, sex, age or level of ability should be able to engage in sport and physical activity as participants, spectators and in the workplace, and that sport and physical activity should be valued for the much broader positive impact it can have across a range of physical, social and economic outcomes. The strategy included a specific focus on engaging people from groups in society that have traditionally been underrepresented in sport and physical activity and who have the most to gain from getting more active.

Government is directly supporting rugby league through more than £11m of Sport England investment in the Rugby Football League over 2017-21 and investment of up to £10m in rugby league facilities to help drive a legacy from the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

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