Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Deferred
Establish a Shadow Independent Regulator for English Football by end of 2023 and pass required legislation.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government should establish the Independent Regulator for English Football in a shadow form by the end of 2023 to ensure that it can begin initial engagement and preparatory work before waiting for legislation to be passed. The Government should ensure the legislation needed to give statutory powers to the Independent Regulator are included in the forthcoming King’s Speech and ensure that legislation is passed in this present Parliament. (Paragraph 13) Fan engagement
Government Response Summary
The government agrees on the importance of transitional arrangements but then entirely pivots its response to discussing fan engagement standards, the Regulator's role in oversight, and existing club engagement, without addressing the specific recommendation to establish a shadow regulator by end of 2023 or the timeline for legislation.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
We agree on the importance of transitional arrangements ahead of the regulator being fully operational. The Government agrees that the Regulator should set its standards for fan engagement independently from the Premier League Fan Engagement Standard, and from the football industry more broadly. The Government welcomes the industry’s measures which are aimed at improving how clubs engage with their supporters, but the Regulator will have the legal authority on fan engagement matters as it will form a part of the Regulator’s licensing regime. It makes sense, however, to review the progress football can make in delivering the engagement which fans expect of its own accord and to assess whether that is successful. The Government encourages the leagues, and their clubs, to continue meeting with fan representatives to discuss their concerns and proposals for improving supporter engagement. Fan engagement is crucial to any club and, as the Government outlined in the White Paper, the Regulator will require clubs to ensure that a representative group of supporters is consulted on key decisions and issues. It is important to recognise that there are clubs which have well developed and effective structures in place to engage with their fans and respond to their views. However, as the White Paper and the CMS Committee’s report both identify, this approach is not consistent across all clubs. Our approach recognises the circumstances of individual clubs and will allow them to implement solutions which work for them and their fanbase, while ensuring the Regulator has a duty to apply sufficient oversight and standards for clubs. The Regulator will assess the structures which underpin fan engagement at clubs and the outcomes which flow from that independently from the leagues. The Regulator will therefore expect to assess evidence from fan representatives as well as the club itself, and may apply additional licence conditions as a result of the information it collects from fans and the club.