House of Lords Question – Accessibility of Sports Stadia

On Monday 9th February Lord Stevenson of Balmacara tabled a question to the House of Lords asking what steps the Government is taking to ensure sports stadia in the UK are made fully accessible for disabled spectators.

In response to the question, Lord Gardiner of Kimble drew attention to the recent Government survey of disabled spectators that is designed to get feedback from clubs and disabled spectators and will help inform future developments around improving access to sports stadia. He then said that ‘it is very important that the momentum of the further work that needs to be done is continued very strongly’.

Around the House, Lord Holmes of Richmond asked what the Government believes ‘should be done to clubs which choose actively to flout the law and not make their stadia accessible?’ Lord Faulkner of Worcester added that in regard to the many clubs that fall short of accessible stadia guidelines, ‘is it not the answer that the Government must legislate to make those guidelines mandatory?’ He added, ‘does the Minister agree that the one alibi which cannot work for the Premier League clubs is shortage of money?’

Lord Gardiner of Kimble replied that the Government will keep the issue of accessibility to sports stadia on ‘every meeting agenda’ with all sporting bodies and acknowledged the need to ‘remedy what has been unsatisfactory for too long’. He also added that the Government ‘hope that what we are doing now will be part of a cocktail of activity that ensures that legislation is not necessary, but if clubs of Manchester United’s wealth are not prepared to do better, then everyone will have to think about that.’

Full Hansard transcript here.

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