HC Deb 01 March 1999 vol 326 cc726-7
5. Mr. Simon Hughes (Southwark, North and Bermondsey)

What steps he proposes to take to ensure the autonomy of the professional sporting bodies; and if he will make a statement. [72093]

The Minister for Sport (Mr. Tony Banks)

Professional sporting bodies in this country are independent and autonomous, and the Government fully support that principle.

Mr. Hughes

I am reassured by that answer and wonder whether, on reflection, the Minister accepts that the comments that he and the Prime Minister made a few weeks ago, which effectively amounted to kicking an English manager when he was down, were entirely inappropriate. The hon. Gentleman is a respected Minister for Sport, and I put it to him seriously that that was a bad mistake. Will he guarantee that in future no Minister will try to decide who will be the captain of England's football team, or of any other team representing any of the countries of the United Kingdom?

Mr. Banks

The hon. Gentleman comes rather late to the event, and it did not happen as he describes. Both my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and I were asked to comment on a matter that was, after all, being discussed up and down the country. It would have been odd if neither my right hon. Friend nor I had had an opinion; if we had had no opinion, we would have been condemned for being out of touch. I might add that dealing with such situations is difficult: it is rather like trying to walk on eggshells while wearing swimming flippers—a difficult task in which one does not always succeed. The incident was an unfortunate one; it was for the Football Association to take the final decision and we support that decision. We wish Kevin Keegan great success for the future and hope that the search for a more permanent England manager is successful.

Mr. John Maxton (Glasgow, Cathcart)

Although I agree that professional sporting bodies should be autonomous, as often as not they are part of the broader governance of that sport. Does my hon. Friend agree that such bodies cannot be totally autonomous, given that they receive large sums of public money through the lottery, sports councils and local government education authorities? Therefore, in respect of broadcasting, should not the Government ensure the widest possible viewing of those sports by the widest possible audience, rather than leave it to those governing bodies alone to decide who will broadcast their sport?

Mr. Banks

I agree strongly with the first part of my hon. Friend's question. The Government do not want to dominate or instruct sports bodies—that is not our job; however, there is a role for Government in partnership with the governing bodies of sport. My hon. Friend is correct to say that such bodies receive millions of pounds of Exchequer grants channelled through the sports councils, so they have a responsibility to develop their own sport, to ensure that it flourishes, and to make sure that they are accountable and operate efficiently. That is why my Department set up Quest—quality excellence standards team—which will assist sports bodies to become more efficient and accountable. The trouble is that one of the greatest things that we have given the world is most of the modern sports. We did that during the 19th century and quite a few of our governing bodies still have structures that are rooted in the 19th century, which is not appropriate as we enter the 21st century.

As for the televising of events, there is a balance to be struck. Governing bodies want to generate more income for their sport, which they can achieve through televising, but, in certain cases, that might be seen as restricting television access. However, most people would argue that there is now more sport on television than has ever been seen before, and I look forward to seeing even more.

Mr. Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath)

I welcome the Minister's announcement that he supports the autonomy of sports bodies, but does he recognise that, in certain cases, the partnership he mentioned requires greater intervention, especially in relation to rugby union? Recently, great concern has been aroused by, for example, one club trying to take over another in a completely different area, which might damage fans' interests. I know that the Minister paints himself as the fans' friend, so will he carefully consider such problems? Concerns have been expressed by hon. Members on both sides of the House and by our constituents about what has recently been going wrong in rugby union.

Mr. Banks

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for asking that question, which gives me the opportunity to congratulate the England women's rugby team on beating Scotland on Sunday. I was at the game and saw some very enjoyable rugby. I encourage people to go to see women's rugby.

We can give advice and assistance directly to governing bodies in certain areas—and we certainly did that with regard to the RFU and the five nations competition. There are several other areas of concern regarding the takeover of clubs. The Government clearly have a role to play in representing the public interest, but I am sure that the hon. Gentleman recognises that we must balance interference with taking no interest in the issues. We are trying to strike that balance and, with the hon. Gentleman's help, we will succeed.