Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to encourage (a) the Football Association and (b) other English national sport associations to organise games outside of London.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions relating to the staging of fixtures are a matter for national governing bodies of sports. However, we welcome the success that the FA, the ECB, the RFU, England Netball and other national governing bodies have enjoyed in hosting representative fixtures across the country.
The government continues to work with UK Sport and prospective event partners on the bidding, planning and delivery of major sporting events. As outlined in the DCMS and UK Sport guidance, the ‘Gold Framework’, revised in 2023, this includes ensuring that hosting and therefore the benefits felt by communities are spread across the country. We have demonstrated this in recent events, such as the UEFA Women’s European Championships 2022, spread across 10 cities, and the Rugby League World Cup matches in the same year across 18 towns and cities, including Newcastle, and mainly hosted in the north of the country. In our pipeline of events, the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup covers England, with the opening match in Sunderland. Our successful bid for the UEFA Men’s European Championships 2028 means that matches are set to take place across the UK and Ireland.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to (a) promote the playing of rugby and (b) support the (i) maintenance and (ii) development of (A) rugby clubs and (B) their infrastructure in (1) England and (2) Romford constituency.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority and we recognise the role of high quality accessible facilities in encouraging people to take part in sport and ensuring participation rates continue to grow. Our new strategy ‘Get Active’ sets out our ambition to build a more active nation, with a target to get 3.5 million more people classed as ‘active’ by 2030 including 1 million more children.
We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England - which receives £323 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Sport England has invested £622,606 in the Romford constituency since 2020.
Since 2021, Sport England has provided over £22.6 million of support to programmes which facilitate participation in grassroots rugby league. This includes funding to the Rugby Football League.
In partnership with the National Lottery, Sport England has also supported the ‘CreatedBy’ capital grants programme. This delivered £26.4 million in legacy funding to celebrate England’s hosting of the 2022 Rugby League World Cup, providing investment in facilities and equipment to encourage participation.
Since 2020, Sport England has provided over £14 million of support to programmes which facilitate participation in grassroots rugby union. Additionally, in 2020/21 the Government provided £21,565,000 to rugby union clubs through the COVID-19 Sport Winter Survival Package. In 2022/23 we provided over £12.5 million of system partner funding to the Rugby Football Union to grow and develop the sport between the years 2022 and 2027.
The Government also funds some projects which benefit rugby through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme. Between 2021 and 2025, the UK Government is investing over £325 million to build or upgrade multi-sport grassroots facilities across the UK to ensure every community has the pitches and facilities it needs. Romford has received £10,491 for three projects through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
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 support the future sustainability of Rugby League.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Government has set out its ambitions for supporting the long-term sustainable growth of the sport sector in the new sport strategy, Get Active.
This includes supporting sports like Rugby League to access additional, alternative forms of investment to help the sector to continue to grow and thrive, and by highlighting best practice, good governance mechanisms, and opportunities offered by technology and innovation. This will allow sport to thrive for future generations, and support the continuation of our sporting institutions.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has appointed independent advisors to help the Department's work on the future sustainability of Rugby League.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
To support the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby Limited on their plans for the future of professional Rugby Union, Government appointed Rugby Football League’s former CEO Ralph Rimmer and Chris Pilling of UK Sport to work with the sport’s authorities.
The independent advisers’ remit only extended to cover issues facing Rugby Union.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department has spent on support for (a) Rugby Union and (b) Rugby League clubs in each year since 1 March 2020.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Government provides the majority of its support for Rugby Union and Rugby League through its arms-length body Sport England. A breakdown of funding for each year for both sports is outlined below:
Rugby Union
2020/21- £26,305,065 (includes £21,565,000 of COVID-19 Sport Winter Survival Package provided to the RFU)
2021/22 - £1,484,441
2022/23 - £15,185,674 (This includes £12,505,000 of System partner funding provided to the RFU to grow and develop the sport between the years 2022 and 2027)
2023/24 - £5,737,648
Rugby Union also received £160 million through the Sport Survival Package, helping professional and community sport clubs survive the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and ensure the continuation of sport competitions and events.
Rugby League
2020/21 - £7,044,354
2021/22 - £10,860,922
2022/23 - £10,849,990
2023/24 - £886,207 (The Sport England funding register is only updated to December 2023 at this point, so funding awarded since December has not been captured in this sum)
Rugby League also received £17.1 million through the Sport Survival Package, which included grant funding to support the delivery of the Rugby League World Cup in 2022.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department has spent on support for grassroots amateur Rugby League clubs since 5 March 2021.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority and we recognise the importance that high quality facilities play in encouraging people to take part in sport and ensuring participation rates continue to grow. Our new strategy ‘Get Active’ sets out our unapologetic ambition to build a more active nation, with a target to get 3.5 million more people classed as ‘active’ by 2030.
Between 2021 and 2025, the UK Government has committed over £400 million to multi-sport grassroots facilities across the UK. This is all part of our mission to ensure every community has the pitches and facilities it needs.
We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England - which receives £323m in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Since 2021, Sport England has provided over £22.6m of support to programmes which facilitate participation in grassroots rugby league.
In partnership with the National Lottery, Sport England has also supported the ‘CreatedBy’ capital grants programme. Which delivered £26.4m in legacy funding to celebrate England’s hosting of the 2022 Rugby League World Cup, providing investment in facilities and equipment to encourage participation.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the findings and recommendations of the Rodrigues inquiry, regarding the experiences of Liverpool FC fans at the Champion's League Final at the Stade de France in 2022, what plans they have to discuss with the government of France the impact on English rugby fans of the crowd control measures in place at the Rugby World Cup match at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on 9 September.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
After some spectators experienced delays entering the Stade Vélodrome in Marseilles on 9 September, officials from HM Government engaged with the French authorities and their counterparts in the France 2023 Organising Committee and have received reassurance that improvements, including clearer signage, will be in place for future Rugby World Cup 2023 matches.
Improvements were in place for matches on Sunday 10 September. Officials continue to engage with the French authorities on security arrangements for the tournament more broadly.
The safety of all attendees at sporting events is of the highest importance to HM Government and the Secretary of State and the Sports Minister have engaged with their counterparts regularly following the Champions League Final in Paris in 2022. We continue to consider and reflect on the lessons learned from the events in Paris in 2022 to inform planning for the UEFA Champions League Final in 2024 at Wembley, as well as the UK and Ireland’s EURO 2028 bid.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
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 her French counterparts on the safety of British supporters at sporting events in France in the context of the experience of (a) Liverpool fans at the Stade de France in 2022, and (b) Rugby fans in Marseille in 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Following some spectators experiencing delays entering the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on 9 September, HM Government officials engaged with the French authorities and counterparts at the France 2023 Organising Committee and have received reassurance that improvements, including clearer signage, will be in place for future Rugby World Cup 2023 matches.
Improvements were in place for matches on Sunday 10 September and we continue to engage with the French authorities on security arrangements for the tournament.
The safety of all attendees at sporting events is of the highest importance to the government and the Secretary of State and I have engaged with counterparts regularly following the Champions League Final in Paris in 2022. We continue to consider and reflect on the lessons learned from the events witnessed in Paris in 2022 to inform planning for the UEFA Champions League Final in 2024 at Wembley, as well as our UK and Ireland EURO 2028 bid.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the financial stability of Premiership rugby clubs.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the recent challenges faced by Rugby Union. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government went above and beyond through the Sports Survival Package to provide unprecedented levels of financial support to sports clubs, including rugby union clubs, to ensure their survival.
The Government is clear that robust governance is essential to sustainable and successful sport. The respective National Governing Body is responsible for the governance of their sport. In the case of Rugby Union, the Government is working closely with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premiership Rugby League (PRL).
The Government shares the concerns of fans about where the game goes next, so has appointed two expert independent advisers to work with the RFU and PRL on their plans to secure the future of professional rugby union. They will report their recommendations to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport later in the summer.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 107201, if he will list the value of the loans made to each of those 15 sports.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Sport Survival Package distributed a total of £264.8 million funding (loan and grant funding) to over 1,685 organisations across 15 sports to ensure their survival throughout the pandemic.
£218,271,393 was provided through loans to the sports listed below: