Author Archives: HM Government

Tracey Crouch announced her plan for the new code in the government’s sport strategy ‘Sporting Future’ in December 2015 in a move to ensure that sports bodies in the UK lead the world with the highest levels of governance and transparency.

The code was published by Sport England and UK Sport in October 2016. Sports governing bodies are working with Sport England and UK Sport to become compliant by 31 October 2017.

If sports bodies do not adhere to the code and cannot demonstrate full commitment to becoming compliant with its requirements they will not be eligible to receive public funding. Governance requirements include:

• Greater transparency
• Increased skills and diversity in decision making – with a target of at least 30 per cent gender diversity on boards – and a commitment to greater diversity more generally
• Constitutional arrangements that make boards the ultimate decision-makers

The changes will mark the single, biggest collective step forward in sports governance in the UK, and will set a template for global best practice.

Significant progress is being made, with 50 sports bodies including the Football Association, England and Wales Cricket Board, Lawn Tennis Association, Rugby Football Union and British Cycling all having plans already agreed on how they will become compliant.

The FA’s board, council and shareholders have agreed to reduce the board in size from 12 to 10 members, introducing term limits of 3 x 3 years for both the board and the FA Council while also ensuring that the inclusive and diverse nature of English football is better reflected.

The Lawn Tennis Association agreed all article changes to become compliant with the code in May. This includes reducing council term limits and confirming the primacy of the board as the decision making body.

The RFU has formed an action plan that includes making changes to the composition of the board, including ensuring primacy of the board and the introduction of maximum term limits for council members. The proposals are to be formally presented to the Council in October 2017.

The ECB has committed to reducing the size of its Board and ensure its appointment process and term limits of directors are compliant with the code. The ECB has also initiated its own governance review to ensure that it is best in class for sports bodies.

British Cycling’s National Council agreed at its recent EGM to make the necessary changes to enable it to become compliant with the Code by October. This includes an increase in the number of openly recruited independent board members and an independent chair. The reforms also include a limit for directors of three, three-year terms, with six of the eight current elected members of the board who have exceeded that maximum due to stand down in the autumn.

Sports Minister Tracey Crouch said:

I am really pleased with how governing bodies have responded to the introduction of the code. I appreciate for many sports this is not an easy task, due to the complexities of current governance structures, but virtually all of them have stepped up, understand the importance of this work and have changes in the pipeline that will collectively strengthen sport in this country.

Good governance and transparency in sport is absolutely paramount – not just for effective decision making but to increase diversity, maintain sport’s integrity and ensure millions of sport fans have complete faith in those that run sport.

UK Sport CEO Liz Nicholl said:

Our funded sports, in receipt of support from Government and The National Lottery, have all embraced the new code for sport governance, with 100% of the summer Olympic and Paralympic sports with funded World Class Programmes having agreed detailed action plans with us to be compliant by October.

The changes that are required do present some challenges as they represent a transformational step up for sports governance in this country. It’s time to focus energy on the opportunity to develop a modern sporting system that can grow and adapt to the challenges of the 21st century.

Sport England CEO Jennie Price said:

Implementation of the Code has been a huge undertaking but we are very pleased with the progress NGBs have made. A lot of change is now happening in a relatively short period of time. Despite the hard work involved, sports bodies have embraced the Code, recognising that better governance means better decision making, and have welcomed the chance to bring their business processes in line with best practice in other sectors. We think these changes will pay off for years to come, with British sport leading the world.

Progress is also being made throughout Olympic and Paralympic sport governing bodies. This includes:

British Gymnastics having strong gender diversity on its board, with 50 per cent of it female, while article changes to ensure the sport is code compliant are due to be agreed at its AGM in October

Royal Yachting Association – board committed to implementing the code in full and “create a world class solution” to its governance.

Boccia UK – already adheres to the majority of the code with 43 per cent of its board being female. The sport is committed to improving transparency through better communication of how it operates.

Notes to Editors:

Angling Trust, Archery GB, England Athletics, UK Athletics, Badminton England, Baseball Softball UK, British Amateur Boxing Association, British Basketball Federation, England Basketball, Boccia UK, Bowls Development Alliance, England Boxing, British Canoeing, England and Wales Cricket Board, British Cycling, British Equestrian Federation, Exercise Move Dance UK, British Fencing. Football Association, Goalball UK, English Golf Union, British Gymnastics, England Handball, GB Hockey, England Hockey, British Judo, English Lacrosse, England Netball, British Orienteering, Modern Pentathlon Association of Great Britain, Rounders England, British Rowing, Rugby Football League, Rugby Football Union, British Shooting, British Swimming, Snowsport England, England Squash, Swim England, GB Taekwondo, British Triathlon Federation, British Weightlifting, Lawn Tennis Association, Disability Table Tennis, Volleyball England, British Waterski and Wakeboard, Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Rugby, British Wrestling, Royal Yachting Association

• There are two sports governing bodies that do not have action plans agreed to become code compliant with Sport England and UK Sport. These are: Table Tennis England and the British Mountaineering Council.

• Table Tennis England has called an Extraordinary General Meeting for 12th August to consider its Board’s proposal on governance changes to become code compliant.

• The British Mountaineering Council is undertaking an independent governance review and Sport England will continue to work with them to agree an action plan.

Quotes from National Governing Bodies

FA Chairman Greg Clarke said:

Good corporate governance is essential for any successful organisation and The FA is delighted to have agreed the changes necessary to meet the best practice outlined in the code. I would like to thank Sport England for striking a considered balance between constructive engagement and commitment to excellence in governance

We have started putting the new governance structures in place. This month, the newly structured Council will meet for the first time with new members ensuring better diversity and representation across football. From next year the Council will be subject to term limits too. We have also started to change the structure of Board, reducing the size and ensuring we have at least 30% female representation. It is great to see that the code is helping improve governance across all sports and I am delighted that everyone in football is embracing its principles.

ECB Chairman Colin Graves said:

We look forward to continuing to work with the Government and Sport England to ensure good governance across the sports sector. For ECB, ensuring good governance is an integral part of making sure that we have the right structures and plans in place to be able to make the right decisions to grow cricket across England and Wales.

LTA Chairman David Gregson said:

The Lawn Tennis Association believes that world-class governance is essential for any sport to thrive, and as a result has warmly welcomed the new Sports Governance Code. Over the last decade, we have made wide-ranging governance reforms, enabling us to become SGC compliant earlier this year with a small number of additional changes. We look forward to working closely with Sport England to continue improving our corporate governance for the benefit of tennis in Britain.

RFU Chief Executive Officer Ian Ritchie said:

The RFU has been focusing on strengthening our governance for some time. Good governance is a core part of any well run organisation – the RFU council has been reviewing a series of governance reforms which are in line with the Sport England Code recommendations, which will be put to the members for approval later this year.

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Sinking of fishing vessel Louisa while at anchor off the Isle of Mingulay with the loss of 3 lives.

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More than £10 million has been earmarked for a major restoration of Aberystwyth University’s iconic Old College, the birthplace of university education in Wales.

The Grade I listed Old College is synonymous with Welsh nation-building following its purchase by the University of Wales for just £10,000 in 1867 using money donated by the local community.

After first opening its doors to students in 1872, for almost a century the Gothic seafront building saw thousands of students come and go, before focus shifted in the 1960s when the university moved to a newly built campus.

Now, funds generated by National Lottery players will see this much-loved building reclaim its place at the heart of Aberystwyth and the local community. Aberystwyth University has initially been granted development funding of £849,500 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, allowing it to progress with its plans and ultimately unlock the full £10,581,800.*

UK Government in Wales Minister Guto Bebb visited Aberystwyth to mark the announcement.

Guto Bebb said:

This National Lottery funding secures the future of the Old College, meaning it can continue to play a vital role in the future – not only of the university but the town itself. As an alumnus myself, I am pleased to see such a worthwhile and exciting project as this being supported to help secure a sustainable future for a building of which I have very fond memories.

John Glen MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism said::

Aberystwyth Old College is a treasured local building that is recognised as one of the UK’s most significant pieces of Gothic revival architecture.

This fantastic scheme is so much more than a restoration project. Thanks to the £10.5 million contribution from National Lottery Players, it will create a thriving visitor and learning destination that will provide new cultural and community resources for Aberystwyth and West Wales and boost the wider Welsh economy.

Baroness Kay Andrews, UK trustee and chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales, said:

These exciting plans to breathe new life into one of Wales’s best loved historic buildings provide a significant and timely boost for the culture and economy of Aberystwyth and well beyond.

Like many Aberystwyth graduates, I have fond memories of Old College. Now, for the first time, this unique building – the signature of Aberystwyth – will be open for the whole community to enjoy and profit from, including visitors to West Wales. This is great news for Aberystwyth and for Wales as a whole.

Aiming to complete Old College’s transformation in time for the university’s 150th anniversary in 2022, work is now underway to develop plans for the building as a performance and gallery space for artists, exhibitions and musicians, a centre for entrepreneurs and new businesses, as well as café and community rooms. It will also house a university museum, allowing some of the 20,000 items normally in storage to be shown the light of day and a new science centre will showcase cutting edge interactive displays alongside a planetarium and 4D facility, highlighting the university’s links with the European Space Agency.

Professor Elizabeth Treasure, Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University, added:

Old College has played a starring role in the provision of higher education in Wales and the wider world. Built with the legendary pennies of the people, it seems fitting now that funding from National Lottery players is playing a vital role in regenerating the building and the economy of this beautiful part of Wales.

Our hope now is that Old College will become a showcase for the excellent research, teaching and treasures of Aberystwyth University, while providing vibrant new facilities for visitors and the local community who are key partners in this venture.

As well as creating new jobs, apprenticeships, work placements, training and volunteer opportunities, the revitalised Old College will also encourage graduates from the university to stay within the town and establish new businesses.

The total cost of the redevelopment is estimated to be around £22m, with the university planning other sources of financing for the project including a major fundraising appeal.

Notes to Editors

Heritage Grant applications are assessed by the Heritage Lottery Fund in two rounds. A first-round pass is given when HLF has endorsed outline proposals and earmarked funding. A first-round pass may also include an immediate award to fund the development of the project. Detailed proposals are then considered by HLF at second-round and as long as plans have progressed satisfactorily and according to the original proposal, an award for the project is confirmed.

About Old College

Old College is one of Wales’s most remarkable buildings. Home of Wales’s first University, this rare Grade I listed building is of national significance, synonymous with Welsh nation-building and on a prominent site on Aberystwyth’s promenade.

Aberystwyth University’s ambition is to open up and reveal the hidden and inaccessible heritage of Old College and transform the building into a welcoming and vibrant cultural and creative centre for the community and a major catalyst for economic and social regeneration. For local people, Old College will be a source of skills and job creation, inspiration, learning and entertainment. For visitors, it will be a new Welsh heritage destination with international appeal.

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Welcome to everyone. Last week Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England unveiled the new £10 note in the UK, featuring Jane Austen, a British writer who died 200 years ago, but whose words are relevant today: “ My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a good deal of conversation.”. Ladies and gentlemen, representatives of the local business community, Cass faculty members and Cass MBA students this is what we have today – good company of clever, well-informed people, who, I am sure, have a great deal of conversation amongst them.

In July 2015 and 2016, a group of Cass Executive MBAs enjoyed a very successful International Consulting Week in Santiago, working in situ with Chilean and Latin American organisations. The experience was so good for all concerned that Cass MBA management have returned again to Chile and I am pleased to say that this is also the third time we have the honour to host Cass Business School students and faculty and their Chilean hosts here at the Residence. And an even stronger delegation on a weeklong visit to work, and exchange ideas, with Chilean businesses.

Academic opportunities such as the Cass International MBA Programme play an important part in the Chile-UK bilateral academic engagement. The start-up mentality that both Chile and the UK share is something that we are keen to cultivate and support. It is an opportunity for both our countries to share best practice, to create links, and to open the door for business developments in new areas. For example innovation, business ethics, sustainability, financial services, innovative industries and public/private partnerships which could provide our countries with the capacities and tools to compete in an ever changing world.

International experience for business people is crucial to build strong foundations for those who one day might become directors and managers of multinational companies. That is why courses like the Cass MBA, are so vital to the prosperity of our economies, to the international business community and to the peaceful relations between nations. International experiences create more ethical, more informed and more open-minded business leaders and bring together people from different professions and places around the world.

We look forward to the continuing relationship with Cass and the British Embassy, but most importantly to the further generation of business links between UK and Chile.

Thank you and enjoy the evening.

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The UK’s creative industries have today cemented their position as a powerhouse for growth, with employment in the sector growing at four times the rate of the UK workforce as whole.

The nation’s creative industries now employ almost two million people, up five per cent on the previous year, compared to the wider UK workforce which grew by 1.2 per cent, according to latest official statistics from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

In addition to the overall employment boom for the sector, the creative industries are also leading the way in addressing concerns about the lack of diversity in the workplace. The number of people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds in the creative industries has increased by 15 per cent since 2015, an improvement more than 2 and half times that of the wider UK workforce. In the film and TV sectors alone, BAME representation has jumped by 40 per cent, and in the design and fashion sector numbers up by almost 50 per cent.

Creative Industries Minister Matt Hancock said:

These positive jobs figures show Britain’s creative industries are performing better than ever. Those working in the creative industries are cultural ambassadors for Britain, and play a hugely important role in helping form and shape the way we are viewed both at home and abroad. This strong, sustained growth of the creative industries is fantastic to see, and we are working with industry to make sure this continues.

And whilst there’s still more to do before diversity in the creative industries mirrors that of our society as a whole, I’m encouraged to see that this area is improving at more than twice the rate of the wider workplace.

Whilst London remains a hub for the creative industries, the latest figures also demonstrate impressive growth in different geographical regions around the UK, including:

Growth of Yorkshire & Humber’s film and TV industries has outstripped that of every other part of the UK, increasing by 40 per cent in the last year.

In the North West, advertising and marketing continues to grow rapidly, experiencing over 20 per cent increase. Centres such as Manchester and MediaCity in Salford are proving globally competitive in this sub-sector.

The Midlands continued to expand as a centre for design and designer fashion, experiencing a 66 per cent increase in employment in the West Midlands and a 54 per cent increase in the East Midlands. The region is home to a number of global fashion brands and world leading fashion and design higher education courses.

The Government has committed to building on the strengths of the UK’s creative industry sector and announced in its Industrial Strategy green paper in January that it is committed to an early sector deal for the industry.

This work is being lead by Sir Peter Bazalgette who is conducting an independent review into how the UK’s creative sector, including our world-class music and video games industries, can help drive prosperity across the country by developing new technologies, capitalising on intellectual property rights and encouraging creativity from people of all ages and backgrounds.

There has also been strong employment growth nationally in other DCMS sectors. The number of jobs in the sport sector have increased by 4.2 per cent year-on-year and up 19.2 per cent since 2011. The digital sector has enjoyed significant job creation – up 2.4 per cent year-on-year and 12.6 per cent since 2011 while the number of jobs in the cultural sector have increased by 1.8 per cent year on year and 20 per cent since 2011.

And in further proof that Britain is well and truly open for business, export statistics for DCMS sectors published today show continued growth and a growing appetite for UK goods and services.

The latest figures show that in 2015 DCMS sectors exported £38.2 billion worth of services to the rest of the world – up 1.4 per cent from the year before and a 42.4 per cent rise on 2010. Exports of services from DCMS sectors in 2015 accounted for 16.9 per cent of total UK service exports.

DCMS sectors exported £27.3 billion worth of goods to the rest of the world in 2015 – up 9 per cent on the year before – growth that was greater than the rest of the UK as a whole. Exports of goods from DCMS sectors in 2015 accounted for 9.6 per cent of total UK goods exports.

Government is working hard to make sure this upward trend continues, and will pursue a deep and special partnership with the EU, including a bold and ambitious Free Trade Agreement that is of greater scope and ambition than any such existing agreement. We want the UK to have the greatest possible tariff- and barrier-free trade with our European neighbours and also to be able to negotiate our own trade agreements. As we leave the EU, we will have the opportunity to forge an independent trading framework and pursue our own priorities and ambitions.

Government will also introduce a Trade Bill to ensure we have the tools to act as a credible player on the world stage, and enhance the UK’s leading role as a global trading nation negotiating and enforcing a rules-based trading system, and driving positive change through trade.

The official statistics are available online

Media Enquiries: Please call 020 7211 6145

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