Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (): I wish to inform the House
that the Government has today published its response to the
recommendations made by the Independent Review of Women’s
Football.
Women’s football has developed rapidly in recent years and there
is no doubt that we are at a defining moment. The Lionesses’ win
at the UEFA EURO 2022 Final and their journey to the final of the
FIFA World Cup earlier this year has continued to raise the
profile of women’s football, both domestically and
internationally. It is vital that we continue to build on these
successes to ensure a long lasting and sustainable future for
women’s football in this country.
The Review of Women's Football examined the opportunities and
challenges for the women’s and girl’s game. The Review made ten
strategic recommendations which would lift minimum standards and
deliver bold and sustainable growth at elite and grassroots
levels. The Government supports all ten of the recommendations in
the Review, and believes that these must be acted on as a
priority to ensure the women's game propels itself to the next
level. I want to take this opportunity to thank Karen Carney
again for the enormous amount of hard work and commitment that
went into producing such a prominent Review. I am grateful for
her continued support for the women’s game and I very much look
forward to working with her going forward.
Responsibility for driving forward the recommendations sits
across multiple stakeholders including the Football Association
(FA); NewCo (the new independent entity that will be responsible
for the management of the women’s professional game); clubs; the
Premier League, the English Football League (EFL), broadcasters,
the Football Foundation, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority
(SGSA), Sport England and the Government. Government will
continue to drive forward the recommendations requiring
government action whilst working with other key organisations to
ensure implementation across the board.
In order to hold all stakeholders accountable, the Government
will be convening an implementation group, which will be
responsible for ensuring the delivery of each recommendation.
The Government has announced a further £25 million for the
Lionesses Futures Fund, in addition to £5 million from the FA.
This £30 million fund will deliver up to 30 3G pitches in
England, with gold-standard provision for women and girls. These
state-of-the art artificial grass pitches will be built around
women and girls priority use, using reserved peak-time slots,
women and girls only evenings and priority booking for women and
girl’s teams to drive up participation and create pathways for
growth. The funding will also provide safe and necessary
grassroots facilities, such as women and girl’s changing rooms
and showers, to welcome the next generation of players both on
and off the pitch. All this builds on our investment of over £300
million in similar facilities across the UK, which also
substantially benefits the women’s and girls’ game at a
grassroots level.
The ambition has always been for the Review's recommendations to
go beyond women’s football and apply to women’s sport more widely
- sharing best practice and giving women and girls equal
opportunities to play the sport they love. With this in mind, the
Government will be convening a roundtable discussion with
industry leaders across all women’s sports.
By collectively implementing the recommendations from the Review,
the women’s game in this country can become a world leading sport
that not only generates immense economic and social value, but
also sets the standards for women’s professional sport globally
that allows others to follow.
The full text of the Government’s response to the Review of
Women’s Football can be found here(opens in a new tab).
Statement from
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
(opens in a new tab)
