Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 10
10
The lack of diversity in the upper echelons of sports governance is striking.
Recommendation
The lack of diversity in the upper echelons of sports governance is striking. We acknowledge the work being undertaken by Sport England and UK Sport to Sport in our communities 31 address the issue, including the recently completed review of the Code for Sports Governance, but we are concerned that governing bodies are still experiencing such a lack of diversity seven years after the original Code was first launched. We recommend that Sport England and Sport UK should be required to publish, at least annually, information about the diversity of candidates for all advertised roles in their organisations and the boards that make those appointments. (Paragraph 58) 32 Sport in our communities
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Sport England and UK Sport made changes to the Code for Sports Governance in 2021 to ensure bodies in receipt of substantial public funding from Sport England or UK Sport have a detailed and ambitious diversity and inclusion action plan to increase diversity on their boards and senior leadership teams, as well as across their wider organisations. The requirement to set plans, and publish them, focusing on organisations as a whole, will encourage transparency about where organisations are making progress and where they’re falling behind. Organisations will be expected to publish their first plans by the end of summer 2022, with meaningful progress made within two years. Sport England and UK Sport will secure additional support to help develop and monitor these action plans. If a sustained lack of commitment or progress is not evident, this will be deemed non-compliant and withdrawal of funding will be actively considered. See more here: https://www.sportengland.org/news/changes-made-strengthen-code-sports-governance. Sport England itself is committed to creating sustainable, lasting change in their approach to equality, diversity and inclusion, and their internal Diversity and Inclusion Action plan is our roadmap to making this a reality. The Plan was published in summer 2021 and covers actions for 2021–24. Their plan for progressing and retaining diverse talent in 2021–22 can be found on the Sport England website here: https://www.sportengland.org/ corporate-information/equality-and-diversity. Government Response to Committee’s Fourth Report 9 UK Sport will also be publishing its own diversity and inclusion action plan, setting out clear ambitions to ensure that their Board, Senior Leadership Team and wider workforce represent and reflect the diversity of the national community in all its forms, including but not limited to women; people from ethnically diverse backgrounds; and those with disabilities. In June 2021, UK Sport also published a new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy, setting out clear priorities to drive change in its organisation and high-performance sport. As part of this strategy, UK Sport will identify and implement targeted actions to recruit, develop and retain more people from under-represented groups. UK Sport will measure progress and publish an update report at least annually on their website.