Third Report - Health barriers for girls and women in sport
Select Committee
Women and Equalities Committee
HC 130
5 March 2024
Government response
Fourth Special Report - Health barriers for girls and women in sport: Government and Sport England responses to the Committee’s Third Report · published 17 May 2024
Recommendations & Conclusions
4 results
4
Recommendation
Acknowledged
Para 35
Review school PE kit guidance to ensure widest choice for girls, including sports bras.
Recommendation
The evidence on girls’ anxieties around PE kit is overwhelming. We recommend the Department for Education and National Physical Activity Taskforce review guidance for schools on school PE kit, with the aim of ensuring all schools permit the widest possible …
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Government Response Summary
The government accepted the recommendation but provided a vague commitment, describing the general activities of the National Physical Activity Taskforce and the Board of Women's Sport, without outlining specific actions or timelines for reviewing PE kit guidance for schools to ensure wider choice for girls or advice on sports bras.
Government Equalities Office
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10
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 76
Slow response to women's ACL injuries indicates systemic gender inequality in sports research.
Conclusion
There has been a slow and disparate response to disproportionately high rates of ACL injury in women’s football. We have no doubt that a health issue of similar magnitude affecting elite male footballers would have received a faster, more thorough, …
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Government Response Summary
The government accepts the conclusion, stating it intends to work with the sector on integrity challenges, has run a call for evidence on how issues are dealt with, and will set out the results and next steps 'in due course'.
Government Equalities Office
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12
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 78
Gender inequality causes limited progress and availability of female-specific sports kit and equipment.
Conclusion
It is symptomatic of gender inequality and sexism in the sports sector that the first football boot in the world designed around female feet came to the market less than four years ago. Since then, limited progress has been made …
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Government Response Summary
The government accepts the implicit recommendation, stating that the National Physical Activity Taskforce and the Board of Women’s Sport will address issues regarding female-specific kit, and that this will form part of future discussions.
Government Equalities Office
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16
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 103
Mandate Sport England to oversee Swim England's response to coaching issues and culture.
Conclusion
Public weighing and body-shaming of girls and young women is wholly unacceptable. That this should have occurred in a sports environment, in which girls already face barriers to participation, is deplorable. Swim England must restore trust in swimming’s coaching practices …
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Government Response Summary
The government generally agrees with the report's aims and highlights existing commitments and targets for women's and girls' participation in sport. However, it does not specifically address the call for Sport England to oversee Swim England or provide an update within two months.
Government Equalities Office
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