Football Governance
(Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
3. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the rules for
the governance of football. [912536]
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
()
It is the responsibility of the football authorities to govern
the sport and provide assurances to fans that proper protections
are in place. We welcome the EFL’s financial and sustainability
review, and stand ready to support and feed into it as
appropriate.
Football clubs are not just economic, or even sporting, entities:
they are, as we have seen in the sad case of Bury, often the
heart of their communities and of key significance in the lives
of individual fans, without whom they are nothing. So would the
Minister support legislating to give fans a right to be
represented in boardrooms, to gain more influence over their
clubs?
I thank the hon. Gentleman very much indeed for his question. I
should have said that my hon. Friend the Minister for Sport,
Media and Creative Industries is sorry not to be here; he has
given apologies, I think, both to your office, Mr Speaker, and to
Opposition Front Benchers. He is overseas on departmental
business.
I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman about the importance of
local football clubs and their place in the community, and the
importance of bringing people together. We are obviously open to
dialogue and we know how strongly fans feel about their
investment in their clubs. We want to see how the EFL review goes
and whether in fact there are wider questions to be asked too.
(Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
Further to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for
Manchester, Withington (), the Premier League clubs and
the Football Association have been resisting the idea of a
supporter being elected to the board of football clubs for a very
long time. Why should the EFL review be any different?
We have seen what happened to Bury and very nearly happened to
Bolton over the summer, and we know how strongly people feel
about this. We need to let that EFL review happen, but it might
be that there are some wider questions that we should be asking
too.
TOPICAL
QUESTIONS
(Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
Given that spending on youth work has fallen by £880 million
since 2010, I was very interested in the Government’s
announcement this week, but note that it is just £50 million a
year in revenue for the sector. Given that at least 760 youth
centres have closed their doors and 14,500 youth and community
workers have lost their jobs since 2010, does the Secretary of
State think that the announcement of just 60 new youth centres
really cuts it?
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
()
I do find it extraordinary that there is no welcome—only
criticism—from the Opposition Front Bench for this £500 million
youth investment fund to be spent in myriad different ways.
Actually, the sector has shown itself to be very strong and
resilient. Of course, it is typical of the Labour party to focus
on buildings and facilities, not on what is going in or on the
support offered to young people.
(Harrow East) (Con)
Further to that answer from my right hon. Friend, let me say that
the £500 million youth investment fund is warmly welcomed across
the country. What steps will she take to ensure that young people
can participate in sport, drama and music as a result of the
fund?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I can give him that
reassurance. Access to art, drama, sport, and other creative and
cultural activities is an absolute right and entitlement for
young people. I am delighted and excited to find that this
Department is responsible for youth policy outside of school
hours. I hope that my hon. Friend will encourage organisations in
his constituency to put in bids for this funding when details are
announced.
