Written questions by Osborne.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that UK Sport and Sport England's funding conditions require the Rugby Football Union and other rugby governing bodies to (a) demonstrate measurable progress in tackling homophobia and (b) creating inclusive environments for LGBTQ+ players, fans and staff.

Sport must be open to everyone. There is absolutely no place for homophobia, or discrimination of any kind, in sport or society.The Government expects sports bodies, including rugby governing bodies, to take robust action to tackle discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs. The Government will continue to work with National Governing Bodies and sector organisations to fight all forms of discrimination at all levels of sport.Through the Sports Council’s Equality Group, UK Sport and Sport England provide guidance on transgender inclusion in domestic sport to our National Governing Bodies. It makes clear that inclusion, fairness, and safety cannot always be balanced in gender-affected sport.Under the UK Sport and Sport England Code for Sports Governance, National Governing Bodies at Tier 3 are required to publish and maintain a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan to receive public funding. This framework serves as the accountability mechanism to demonstrate commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Media and Sport, how does the Government plan to support the development of inclusive frameworks that respect both participation rights and competitive fairness for the LGBTQ+ community in rugby union.

Sport must be open to everyone. There is absolutely no place for homophobia, or discrimination of any kind, in sport or society.The Government expects sports bodies, including rugby governing bodies, to take robust action to tackle discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs. The Government will continue to work with National Governing Bodies and sector organisations to fight all forms of discrimination at all levels of sport.Through the Sports Council’s Equality Group, UK Sport and Sport England provide guidance on transgender inclusion in domestic sport to our National Governing Bodies. It makes clear that inclusion, fairness, and safety cannot always be balanced in gender-affected sport.Under the UK Sport and Sport England Code for Sports Governance, National Governing Bodies at Tier 3 are required to publish and maintain a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan to receive public funding. This framework serves as the accountability mechanism to demonstrate commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Media and Sport, what engagement the Government Equalities Office has had with rugby governing bodies regarding their inclusion policies for transgender and non-binary players.

Sport must be open to everyone. There is absolutely no place for homophobia, or discrimination of any kind, in sport or society.The Government expects sports bodies, including rugby governing bodies, to take robust action to tackle discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs. The Government will continue to work with National Governing Bodies and sector organisations to fight all forms of discrimination at all levels of sport.Through the Sports Council’s Equality Group, UK Sport and Sport England provide guidance on transgender inclusion in domestic sport to our National Governing Bodies. It makes clear that inclusion, fairness, and safety cannot always be balanced in gender-affected sport.Under the UK Sport and Sport England Code for Sports Governance, National Governing Bodies at Tier 3 are required to publish and maintain a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan to receive public funding. This framework serves as the accountability mechanism to demonstrate commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the FA regarding proposed changes to the Women’s FA Cup.

The Football Association (the national governing body for football) is independent of the Government and independently determines how they organise their competitions.Karen Carney’s 2023 Independent Review of Women’s Football made a series of recommendations for key stakeholders in the game to take forward which included a recommendation that the FA make a clear commitment to equalising FA Cup prize money as soon as is feasible. Following the review, the Minister for Sport has convened the Women’s Football Taskforce with industry stakeholders including the FA and Football Supporters’ Association, to drive forward the recommendations of Karen Carney’s review.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to the Women’s FA Cup on (a) domestic women’s leagues, (b) player welfare and (c) fans.

The Football Association (the national governing body for football) is independent of the Government and independently determines how they organise their competitions.Karen Carney’s 2023 Independent Review of Women’s Football made a series of recommendations for key stakeholders in the game to take forward which included a recommendation that the FA make a clear commitment to equalising FA Cup prize money as soon as is feasible. Following the review, the Minister for Sport has convened the Women’s Football Taskforce with industry stakeholders including the FA and Football Supporters’ Association, to drive forward the recommendations of Karen Carney’s review.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Football Supporters Association regarding proposed changes to the Women’s FA Cup.

The Football Association (the national governing body for football) is independent of the Government and independently determines how they organise their competitions.Karen Carney’s 2023 Independent Review of Women’s Football made a series of recommendations for key stakeholders in the game to take forward which included a recommendation that the FA make a clear commitment to equalising FA Cup prize money as soon as is feasible. Following the review, the Minister for Sport has convened the Women’s Football Taskforce with industry stakeholders including the FA and Football Supporters’ Association, to drive forward the recommendations of Karen Carney’s review.

Media and Sport, how much funding was allocated to grass roots football in (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25; and if she will take steps to continue this funding in 2025-26.

Grassroots sports clubs are at the heart of communities up and down the country. We know just how important they are, which is why we are committed to supporting high-quality, inclusive facilities to get more people active, including through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities programme, which provides funding to build and improve grassroots facilities, and a commitment to support the Football Association’s ambition to double their number of gold-standard (3-star) community clubs by EURO 2028.£123 million of funding is being delivered through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25. Following the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, the Government confirmed its continued support for elite and grassroots sport through future investment, of which further details will be confirmed in due course.The Football Association is a long-term partner of Sport England, and have received over £26 million of funding from them for the period 2022-27 for grassroots football projects.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on a long-term funding settlement for women and girls' football facilities.

The Government is dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport. High-quality, inclusive facilities help clubs to get more people active and by backing these clubs, the Government will support more women and girls to get onto the pitch wherever they live.The Government continues to support grassroots facilities, including through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities programme, which provides funding to build and improve grassroots facilities, and a commitment to support the Football Association’s ambition to double their number of gold-standard (3-star) community clubs by EURO 2028. This will deliver more opportunities for women and girls to get on the pitch.£123 million of funding is being delivered through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25. Following the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, the Government confirmed its continued support for elite and grassroots sport through future investment, of which further details will be confirmed in due course.

Media and Sport, with reference to Q33 of the oral evidence she gave to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on 10 December 2024, HC 330, what assessment she has made of the (a) demand for women's and girl's football facilities and (b) the funding required for that provision over the next five years.

The Government is dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport. High-quality, inclusive facilities help clubs to get more people active and by backing these clubs, the Government will support more women and girls to get onto the pitch wherever they live.We are pleased to see the significant progress in the number of women and girls taking up football in recent years, and wider developments in the women’s game. In 2023, Karen Carney OBE published a major Independent Review of Women’s Football which made a series of recommendations including supporting grassroots women and girls’ football. This Government fully endorses those recommendations and looks forward to ensuring tangible progress is made.The Government continues to support grassroots facilities, including through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities programme, which provides funding to build and improve grassroots facilities, and a commitment to support the Football Association’s ambition to double their number of gold-standard (3-star) community clubs by EURO 2028. This will deliver more opportunities for women and girls to get on the pitch.£123 million of funding is being delivered through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25. Following the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, the Government confirmed its continued support for elite and grassroots sport through future investment, of which further details will be confirmed in due course.We are also working with the Football Foundation to embed the learnings of the Lionesses Futures Fund as standard criteria for all their major capital projects, meaning more women and girls benefit from our investment. This includes guaranteeing a share of priority slots to women’s and girls’ teams and setting up a new small grants programme specifically targeted at creating female-friendly facilities off the pitch.The Football Foundation plans their investment pipeline based on Local Football Facility Plans (LFFPs) which have been developed in partnership with local authorities and are in the process of being refreshed to reflect the increase in demand for women and girls’ grassroots facilities.The Football Association is a long-term partner of Sport England, and have received over £26 million of funding from them for the period 2022-27 for grassroots football projects.

Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to ensure the continuation of the Lionesses Future Fund.

The Government is committed to supporting women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport, including football.The department is working with the Football Foundation to embed standard criteria to ensure access for women and girls for all their major capital projects, meaning more women and girls benefit from our investment. At the Autumn Budget, the Government confirmed our continued support for elite and grassroots sport by investing in multi-use facilities. Further details will be confirmed in due course.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a voluntary grassroots contribution on arena and festival tickets to support the grassroots music sector.

The Government will respond to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s report on grassroots music venues in the coming weeks, including its recommendations on a ticket levy, the agent of change principle, and a fan-led review of live and electronic music. To support fans, we will launch a consultation on new protections for ticket resales in the autumn alongside a call for evidence on price transparency.We are encouraged to see the music industry exploring a voluntary levy to sustain the flow of talented musicians throughout the music ecosystem, from grassroots to the main stage. The Secretary of State and I [Minister Bryant] look forward to meeting Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust later this month to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the grassroots music sector, where the recommendations set out in the Select Committee’s report will be discussed.

Media and Sport, if she will institute a fan-led review of the music industry.

The Government will respond to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s report on grassroots music venues in the coming weeks, including its recommendations on a ticket levy, the agent of change principle, and a fan-led review of live and electronic music. To support fans, we will launch a consultation on new protections for ticket resales in the autumn alongside a call for evidence on price transparency.We are encouraged to see the music industry exploring a voluntary levy to sustain the flow of talented musicians throughout the music ecosystem, from grassroots to the main stage. The Secretary of State and I [Minister Bryant] look forward to meeting Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust later this month to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the grassroots music sector, where the recommendations set out in the Select Committee’s report will be discussed.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of putting the agent of change on a statutory footing to support grassroots music venues.

The Government will respond to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s report on grassroots music venues in the coming weeks, including its recommendations on a ticket levy, the agent of change principle, and a fan-led review of live and electronic music. To support fans, we will launch a consultation on new protections for ticket resales in the autumn alongside a call for evidence on price transparency.We are encouraged to see the music industry exploring a voluntary levy to sustain the flow of talented musicians throughout the music ecosystem, from grassroots to the main stage. The Secretary of State and I [Minister Bryant] look forward to meeting Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust later this month to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the grassroots music sector, where the recommendations set out in the Select Committee’s report will be discussed.