Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted in Part
Work with police and sporting bodies to introduce centralised reporting for discrimination at events.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government work with police and sporting bodies to introduce on a centralised system to report and record discrimination and antisocial behaviour at sporting events. (Paragraph 40) Safety at major sporting events 33 Alcohol and drug use at sporting events
Government Response Summary
The government stated it is developing a digital one-stop-shop portal for reporting anti-social behaviour, and highlighted the existing True Vision online system for reporting hate crime, partially addressing the recommendation for a centralised reporting system.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
We recognise the importance of collecting and analysing data on safety incidents at sporting events to inform effective interventions. A subgroup of the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) Safety Committee met to discuss these issues in 2023 and a Working Group was established which met for the second time in January 2024. Notably, the government already funds a centralised online system for users to report hate crime to the police, called True Vision. This online hate crime reporting portal is maintained by the police and funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It is designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station in person to make a report. Reports can be made about hate crimes that occur at sporting events. The government also funds the National Online Hate Crime Hub, which is a central capability designed to support individual local police forces in dealing with online hate crime. This may include online hate crimes that are linked to sporting events. The Hub provides expert advice to police forces to support them in investigating these abhorrent offences. The government takes tackling anti-social behaviour seriously and encourages all forms to be reported. Existing reporting tools, such as police.uk, allow the public to report anti-social behaviour incidents at sporting events to the police. The government is developing a digital one-stop-shop portal that will allow the public to report anti-social behaviour to the right local responders wherever it may take place. Ahead of the UEFA Women’s European Championships, the then Minister for Sport wrote to media companies to outline the importance of monitoring misogynistic and discriminatory language against players during the tournament. This sat alongside a strategy implemented by The Football Association (The FA) and the UKFPU which enabled this type of behaviour to be swiftly reported. In January, the Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society wrote to X and Meta on the topic of recent abuse towards women in sport. Both have now responded, setting out the action they are taking including enforcement, reporting processes and safety settings. We will also be writing on this issue to the CMS Select Committee Inquiry into Women’s Sport.