Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)

My Lords, I will speak to both amendments in this group, to which I have added my name. I am very grateful to my noble friends who have spoken to them, particularly my noble friend Lord Wrottesley, who brings many years’ experience of sports governance. The Committee is grateful to have had his insights. These two amendments attempt to expand the objectives of the regulator under the Bill. These objectives will be fundamental guiding principles by which the regulator will have to abide and will inform its operation from its conception. Amendment 56 introduces two new objectives into Clause 6. The first is a growth objective and the second a financial investment objective. The growth objective is not intended to encourage a more activist regulator, to reassure the noble Lord, Lord Watson of Invergowrie. We do not want to see the regulator take further action than necessary; we want it to have the growth of the sport constantly in mind so that, when it carries out its other duties, it does not restrict the ability of clubs to look forward and plan for the future. I take his point about our wording on the number of clubs; we want to see the growth of football, so if new clubs spring up and enter the pyramid then he and I would jointly welcome that objective. However, I take the point that this would create more work for the regulator and the regulatory regime. As he will see from our wording in proposed new paragraph (d), what we have suggested as metrics “includes, but is not limited to”. It is an attempt to point to some metrics for growth, but if there are better ways of doing it then we are certainly open to hearing them. By trying to focus the mind of the regulator on growth, we would ensure that, when it is drafting its rules or working on the levy or financial thresholds it may set, it will always have regard to how its work and rules will allow clubs to grow. We mean not financial growth but growth in every aspect. That is why Amendment 58 tries to expand on the meanings of the growth objective and gives a number of examples in the legislation. As it sets out, that objective would include the “continued … expansion of all aspects of regulated clubs and specified competitions”. We want clubs to be able to increase their revenues so that they can continue to invest in the future of the game, not just for their own sake but for the whole pyramid, and help the regulator achieve its financial sustainability objective. We also want them to increase their match-day attendance, TV viewership, fan base and more. The focus on growing the fan base relates to an amendment to which the Committee has already given some thought, which called for the inclusion of current and prospective fans in the stated criteria for the sustainability of English football. In a similar vein, this amendment is trying to stress the importance of expanding the fan base of English football and appealing to future supporters as well as current ones. I will also address the inclusion of a financial investment objective, as my noble friend Lord Markham set out in moving his amendment. This would seek to ensure that the regulator always considers the impact of its actions on the security of future investment in English football. As all noble Lords will know, professional clubs in this country would not be the world leaders they are today or command the fan base that my noble friend Lord Wrottesley set out without significant investment. This amendment does not attempt to place any restrictions on the regulator but, as with the growth objective, seeks to keep it on the straight and narrow so that it exercises its functions only ever in a manner that genuinely benefits football.