Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the England and Wales Cricket Board on (a) racism and (b) discrimination in cricket.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is clear that racism has no place in cricket, sport, or society at large. I regularly meet with the England and Wales Cricket Board to discuss a range of issues, including equality, diversity and inclusion.
It is ultimately for all individual sports’ national governing bodies, to decide on the specific aims, appropriate initiatives and funding to tackle discrimination in their organisations.
The ECB has provided a full response to the 2023 Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket report, and has publicly committed to taking on board the majority of the recommendations to create lasting change across the sport. We welcome the ECB’s commitment to tackle these serious issues and secure a sustainable future for the sport. Government will be monitoring closely to ensure that progress is made.
Correspondence Mar. 19 2024
Committee: Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Department: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)Found: Letter from England and Wales Cricket Board to Colin Graves, relating Yorkshire Cricket County Club,
Correspondence May. 24 2024
Committee: Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Department: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)Found: from Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP, Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society, relating to Equity in Cricket
Correspondence Mar. 19 2024
Committee: Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Department: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)Found: Letter from England and Wales Cricket Board, relating to oral evidence follow-up, dated 1 March 2024
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support is available to cricket clubs in England.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport including cricket through our Arms Length Body, Sport England - which receives over £100 million in Exchequer funding each year.
As a system partner of Sport England the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has received £11.6 million of funding covering the years 2022-2027 to grow and develop cricket across the country.
Since 2019, Sport England has invested a further £23.6 million in projects and schemes which enable participation in cricket. This includes £9,564 of support that has been provided to clubs in the East Devon constituency in response to issues such as Covid-19 and emergency funding for storm-damaged facilities.
Further information on funding options available from both the ECB and Sport England can be found on the ECB’s website- Here
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their strategy to increase and widen the opportunity for people to participate in playing cricket.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting the growth of cricket, and widening participation in the sport at all levels.
HM Government is working closely with Sport England and the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to help increase participation in cricket in those parts of the United Kingdom. Since 2019, Sport England has invested more than £34 million in cricket projects, including over £11.6 million which has been awarded to the ECB as one of Sport England’s system partners.
The ECB launched its Youth Strategy in 2022, which aims to target cricket delivery in schools where the pupils are most likely to miss out on the opportunity to play. This involves delivering cricket – through Chance to Shine and the Lord’s Taverners – in schools with a high proportion of pupils qualifying for free school meals and in special educational needs schools and units. In the last academic year, the ECB reached 50,000 pupils through this programme.
The ECB is also aiming to provide equal access for women and girls by delivering 2,000 gender-balanced clubs, 6,000 women’s and girls’ teams, and recruiting 6,000 volunteers to deliver recreational cricket in time for the 2026 Women’s World Cup. Over recent years the ECB has also worked with Sport England to recruit over 2,000 female British South Asian volunteers as part of the ‘Dream Big’ programme.
Supporting participation in sport, including cricket, in Northern Ireland is primarily the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive and Sport Northern Ireland. The National Lottery supports participation in sport across the United Kingdom via its Lottery Distributing Bodies, which include Sport Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many state schools in the last ten years had grounds that were used for playing cricket; and what steps they are taking to increase access for state schools for participation in cricket.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not collect data about which sports pupils participate in on school premises during the school day.
Schools can organise and deliver a diverse and challenging PE and school sport activities which best suits the needs of their pupils. Factors influencing that decision include the spaces available along with the available equipment.
Where schools provide specific sports such as cricket, the department encourages them to draw on support from the relevant national governing body. The England and Wales Cricket Board offer a wide range of resources and age appropriate guidance and advice for delivering cricket in schools.
On 8 March 2023, the department announced over £600 million across the next two academic years for the Primary PE and Sport Premium, and £57 million up to March 2025 for the Opening School Facilities programme. Schools in England can use funding from these programmes to increase provision and raise the quality of sports such as cricket.