7. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the risk of injury to children and young people through playing contact sports such as rugby? (OAQ51113)

Thank you. The UK Chief Medical Officer has commissioned the UK physical activity committee to consider the evidence calling for a ban on contact rugby for school-age children. The committee rejected the call to ban tackling and did not feel that rugby participation poses an unacceptable risk of harm.

Thanks for the answer, and that’s quite an encouraging response. The question was posed in relation to a recent piece that appeared in the ‘British Medical Journal’, which was quite well publicised, so I’m sure you’re aware of it. Of course, we do have to be mindful of the risks posed, but we’re also trying to encourage young people to get involved in physical activity. So, I’m just looking for some reassurance that we weren’t going to overreact to this piece. So, I think your response is encouraging in that light, and I gather nothing has changed as a result of this piece in the BMJ.

Thank you for that question. We’re very alive to the importance that we put on keeping children safe in school in all aspects, but we’re particularly taking the issue of safety of school sport seriously. It is important to put in place proportionate steps to create those safe environments for children to participate in sport. Injury, of course, can occur in any recreational activity although clearly some sports carry a greater risk than others. Welsh Government has provided guidance on concussion and brain injury to support people who are involved in school and community sport up to the age of 19, to minimise the possibility of injury. That guidance was produced in partnership and in co-operation with a range of partners including the NHS, Welsh Rugby Union and the Football Association of Wales. So, it’s important to take a proportionate approach to this issue, making sport as safe as we possibly can but also recognising the huge benefits that sport and physical activity bring to individuals.

Minister, thank you for your answers to date on this. I take the point that there’s a body of evidence out there that is worth exploring, but I agree with the sentiments that you’ve put that proportionate action is what is required. As someone who likes to think he’s benefitted from contact sport over the years and whose children have been involved in all sorts of sports as well, I see the wider benefits. But it does form an obligation on us as politicians and, indeed, you as a Government, to work with the governing bodies in sports that are identified as contact sports to make sure that the most up-to-date facilities are available where those sports are played. I’d be grateful to understand what interaction you have with the governing bodies—because we see it at the Millennium Stadium, you know, doctors on the touchline if someone is concussed et cetera—what facilities are available, at the more community level, to make sure that no-one is exposed to unnecessary risk and those proportionate steps that you talked about are adhered to at a community level, where most people play this contact sport?

Sport Wales, my officials and I are in regular contact with the national governing bodies of sport and, of course, responsibility rests with them as well in terms of making sure that individuals who participate in those sports do so safely. I know that the governing bodies have taken good leadership in this area. For example, the rugby union have published their own concussion guidance and this is reviewed yearly by the WRU medical advisory committee. They’ve also said that concussion is a priority area for them and they’re working particularly with referees over the course of this year. There are also mandatory concussion protocols that are enforced in the international, professional and the semi-professional game, and that again is delivered through the WRU minimum standards criteria document. That is audited on an annual basis as well. The Welsh Football Trust is soon to provide their own concussion guidance, because there have been some concerns raised previously about heading balls, for example. So, concussion guidance is coming very shortly from the Welsh Football Trust. That will be disseminated to all clubs in Wales, with leaflets and posters available to assist with awareness raising of these issues.

I’m pleased that the Minister has just mentioned other sports, because although rugby has been given a great deal of coverage, it’s true to say that all sorts of team sports have some element of risk and contact. Of course, we must safeguard children and young people who participate in those sports. So, in that context, what tools and mechanisms does the Welsh Government have in order to weigh up the risk inherent in certain contact sports but also the wider benefits that come from encouraging the next generation of children and young people to think in terms of keeping fit and active and being involved in sport as a wider benefit for the whole of society?

Welsh Government, as I said, works closely with the national governing bodies of sports and actually they are best placed to understand the specific risk areas within those sports and they do provide their own concussion guidance. Welsh Government, when we’ve provided guidance, has worked closely with those bodies. I would absolutely be evangelical about the importance of encouraging children to find sports that they love and have as many opportunities as possible to try different sports, because we know that people who do physical activity have a 30 per cent lower risk of an early death. I think that in itself is quite a stark figure, as well as the fact, for example, that there’s a 50 per cent lower risk of type 2 diabetes and a 30 per cent lower risk of falls, if you’re an older person. I think that we can see, clearly, the benefits of physical activity right across the lifespan, so it is important to take an informed and proportionate approach to safety in sport as well.

Thank you, Minister.