Recommendations & Conclusions
10 items
1
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Major cultural and sport…
Accepted in Part
We welcome the Government’s commitment to building on the UK’s strong reputation for delivering major events but believe more could be done to develop a strategic approach to hosting them, particularly beyond the realm of major sporting events. In an increasingly competitive national and global landscape, such a strategy would …
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We welcome the Government’s commitment to building on the UK’s strong reputation for delivering major events but believe more could be done to develop a strategic approach to hosting them, particularly beyond the realm of major sporting events. In an increasingly competitive national and global landscape, such a strategy would assist with the effective allocation of resources and ensure decisions to host major events are joined up with wider Government priorities. Within the next two years, DCMS should work with industry to develop and publish a strategy for hosting the full scope of major events.
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the value of a cohesive approach to major events but states that publishing a strategy for major cultural and sporting events is not an immediate priority, although it claims to already be taking steps to improve the strategic framework. A refreshed Gold …
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Major cultural and sport…
Acknowledged
The lack of guaranteed funding for UK City of Culture hosts creates unnecessary uncertainty and risks undermining other fundraising efforts. The Government should guarantee successful hosts of UK City of Culture an appropriate amount of national funding from the outset, rather than require the host to wait for a decision, …
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The lack of guaranteed funding for UK City of Culture hosts creates unnecessary uncertainty and risks undermining other fundraising efforts. The Government should guarantee successful hosts of UK City of Culture an appropriate amount of national funding from the outset, rather than require the host to wait for a decision, to enable organisers to focus their efforts on securing other sources of funding.
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Government response AI summary
The government states its commitment to working with Bradford, the winner of the 2025 competition, on future funding opportunities and mentions existing investment in previous title holders and initial seed funding. They will factor the Committee’s recommendation into its longer-term, strategic work on the competition.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
3
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Major cultural and sport…
Deferred
The recommendations and reforms proposed in the fan led review of football governance should not be hanging over the Football Association as it goes into a bidding process for the 2028 EUFA EURO. The Government must ensure implementation of the review’s principal recommendation, the establishment of the independent regulator for …
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The recommendations and reforms proposed in the fan led review of football governance should not be hanging over the Football Association as it goes into a bidding process for the 2028 EUFA EURO. The Government must ensure implementation of the review’s principal recommendation, the establishment of the independent regulator for English football in legislation, is completed by the time the campaign to host the 2028 competition begins in earnest. (Paragraph 26) Communicating a vision
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Government response AI summary
The government will legislate to establish the independent regulator when parliamentary time allows, meaning the process will run alongside the bidding process for EURO 2028, but legislation as important as that which will be drafted in respect of a new, independent regulator for football cannot …
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
4
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Major cultural and sport…
Rejected
Since the event’s inception in 2018, the aims for Festival UK* 2022/Unboxed: Creativity in the UK have been vague and ripe for misinterpretation by the press and public at large. We see no evidence to refute such scepticism now. The desire for it to seemingly cater to everyone, everywhere, is …
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Since the event’s inception in 2018, the aims for Festival UK* 2022/Unboxed: Creativity in the UK have been vague and ripe for misinterpretation by the press and public at large. We see no evidence to refute such scepticism now. The desire for it to seemingly cater to everyone, everywhere, is a recipe for failure and investing £120 million in something when the Government, by their own admission, “did not know what it was” is an irresponsible use of public money. Despite ambitious “stretch targets” for engagement, just a few months out there remains a worrying lack of detail about how that will be achieved, particularly when it comes to touring projects internationally. We therefore intend to scrutinise how 2022’s events are leveraged overseas in our subsequent inquiry on promoting Britain abroad.
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Government response AI summary
The Government disagrees with the Committee’s assessment of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, claiming it has clear objectives: to bring people together and showcase the UK’s creativity and innovation to the world through a series of groundbreaking creative projects that celebrate the best of UK …
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
5
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Major cultural and sport…
Accepted
Handled sensitively, major events can be an opportunity for communities to reflect on difficult subjects and grow from them. Organisers and stakeholders, including the media, should not shy away from interrogating potential fault lines, but carefully assess and manage cultural risks accordingly.
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Handled sensitively, major events can be an opportunity for communities to reflect on difficult subjects and grow from them. Organisers and stakeholders, including the media, should not shy away from interrogating potential fault lines, but carefully assess and manage cultural risks accordingly.
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Government response AI summary
The Government shares the Committee’s view that major events offer valuable opportunities to foster constructive dialogue on important issues, and can provide a focal point to consider social issues if handled sensitively, referencing the Commonwealth Games Federation's Athlete Advocacy Guiding Principles and the Birmingham 2022 …
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
6
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Major cultural and sport…
Accepted in Part
The listed events regime is vital to the UK’s sporting and media landscape, amplifying major events and enabling the country to capitalise on its investment in them and their stars. As people’s consumption of media content changes, this crucial tool needs to be gold-plated for the future. The Government should …
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The listed events regime is vital to the UK’s sporting and media landscape, amplifying major events and enabling the country to capitalise on its investment in them and their stars. As people’s consumption of media content changes, this crucial tool needs to be gold-plated for the future. The Government should review extending the protections currently offered under the listed events regime to digital and on- 32 Major cultural and sporting events demand content. The Committee reiterates its view that sporting events which are a long-established centrepiece of our national sporting heritage, such as the Six Nations Rugby Tournament, should be added to the live listed events regime.
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Government response AI summary
The Government recognises the importance of events of national significance being available to as wide an audience as possible and will undertake a review to look at whether the scope of the Listed Events Regime should be extended to include digital rights, but has no …
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
7
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Major cultural and sport…
Accepted in Part
The news media are vital stakeholders for major events, amplifying them at home and abroad and delivering greater value for money. Moreover, beyond this purely instrumentalist role, there is an intrinsic value to free and reliable reporting of major events. It is, therefore, concerning to hear of increased restrictions on …
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The news media are vital stakeholders for major events, amplifying them at home and abroad and delivering greater value for money. Moreover, beyond this purely instrumentalist role, there is an intrinsic value to free and reliable reporting of major events. It is, therefore, concerning to hear of increased restrictions on reporting at major events and that the news media’s requirements are not always fully considered in event planning and delivery. DCMS and UK Sport should, in consultation with news media organisations, update the Gold Framework to set out requirements for publicly funded events to protect media freedoms and consider coverage requirements from bid stage and throughout the lifecycle of each event. (Paragraph 58) Delivering a meaningful legacy
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees that effective media coverage of major events is critical to their success and will ensure that the Gold Framework encourages early engagement with broadcasters and news media outlets when considering potential bids.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
8
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Major cultural and sport…
Accepted
Legacy programmes and independent evaluation are vital for delivering long-term value for money from major events. However, current funding structures and limited evaluation periods give the impression that they are not a priority, as illustrated in the case of the Commonwealth Games. To ensure learnings are taken forward from 2022’s …
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Legacy programmes and independent evaluation are vital for delivering long-term value for money from major events. However, current funding structures and limited evaluation periods give the impression that they are not a priority, as illustrated in the case of the Commonwealth Games. To ensure learnings are taken forward from 2022’s events, we intend to revisit this topic in a follow-up session later this year or early next. (Paragraph 79) A missed opportunity
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Government response AI summary
The Government agrees that legacy work and evaluation activities are critical to securing long-term value from major events, but disagrees with the Committee’s assessment that this is not currently a priority, pointing to significant additional investments have been made into a range of legacy programmes.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
9
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Major cultural and sport…
Not Addressed
The Government is spending a lot of money on this year’s major events. Yet while individual occasions may well deliver memorable moments, we see no golden thread linking the events or tying them to a vision for the future of this country. If the UK is to leverage major events …
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The Government is spending a lot of money on this year’s major events. Yet while individual occasions may well deliver memorable moments, we see no golden thread linking the events or tying them to a vision for the future of this country. If the UK is to leverage major events fully, they must unite people at home and abroad around a sense of shared culture. However, we see no sense of how 2022’s events will take us on a journey of renewal as a country—despite the many differing views about the image of Britishness that the events should promote.
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Government response AI summary
The government asserts that the 2022 program of events will play a key part in the UK's renewal, reflecting the nation's diversity and unifying elements, with various examples like the Commonwealth Games, UNBOXED, and the Rugby League World Cup. They claim the events are aligned …
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
10
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Major cultural and sport…
Not Addressed
Recent years have seen major events policy formed through little more than ministerial fiat, and nothing illustrates this better than the vague and shape-shifting nature of Unboxed: Creativity in the UK. There is no one in Government with clear ownership for 2022’s programme of events, and few meaningful links between …
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Recent years have seen major events policy formed through little more than ministerial fiat, and nothing illustrates this better than the vague and shape-shifting nature of Unboxed: Creativity in the UK. There is no one in Government with clear ownership for 2022’s programme of events, and few meaningful links between the events themselves. In the future, we call on the Government to be clear about what it is trying to achieve through major events and how they fit with wider policy priorities, and then to embed that vision through long-term planning and resourcing. (Paragraph 82) Major cultural and sporting events 33
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Government response AI summary
The government asserts that the 2022 program of events will play a key part in the UK's renewal, reflecting the nation's diversity and unifying elements, with various examples like the Commonwealth Games, UNBOXED, and the Rugby League World Cup. They claim the events are aligned …
Read full response →
Department for Culture, Media and Sport