Select committee: Women and Equalities Committee

Recommendation 17

Third Report - Health barriers for girls and women in sport Published 5 Mar 2024 Paragraph 104 Addressed to Government Equalities Office
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Issues of bullying, harassment, abuse, and discrimination are not limited to swimming, with issues emerging across several sports in recent years. We welcome the DCMS’s call for evidence on integrity in sport, which closed three months ago, and expect to see tangible actions as a result. In response to this Report, the DCMS should set out in detail: • insights from the call for evidence on integrity in sport; • the proposed the next steps in improving how concerns and grievances are dealt with in the sector; • its evaluation of the effectiveness of the Sport Integrity pilot; and • a timetable for further change in the sports sector.

From: Women and Equalities Committee, Third Report - Health barriers for girls and women in sport (HC 130), paragraph 104, 5 March 2024

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 17 May 2024 (deadline 7 May 2024).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government welcomes the Committee's report and states that it accepts "most of the report recommendations", partially accepting some, including those on RSHE education, the This Girl Can campaign and maternity policy.

  • On menstrual cycle education (Recommendation 1), the Government "partially accepts" and says menstruation is already taught within statutory RSHE. The Department for Education is reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance and will release updated guidance "as soon as possible".
  • On PE kit (Recommendation 2), the Government accepts the recommendation and says the Department for Education is "committed to continually reviewing" its school uniform and PE kit guidance.
  • On the School Sport and Activity Action Plan, the Department for Education "does not accept" the part of Recommendation 3 on updating it with targets, as there are "no current plans" to do so. It points instead to non-statutory PE guidance published in March 2024.
  • On integrity in sport (Recommendation 10), the Government accepts the recommendation and says it received over 600 responses to its call for evidence. It will set out the results and next steps "in due course".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error