Committee establishment follows publication of a single UK-wide strategy for athletics

UK Athletics (UKA) has announced the establishment of a new Standards, Ethics and Rules Committee.

The national governing body says the new committee is part of the collaboration between UKA and the home country athletics federations (HCAFs) – England Athletics, Scottish Athletics, Welsh Athletics and Athletics Northern Ireland – and it follows last week’s publication of a single UK-wide strategy for athletics.

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“Appointed by UKA, the committee’s role is to advise and recommend to the UKA Board, and the boards of the HCAFs, on a wide range of issues, focused on establishing and promoting clear and consistent standards of behaviour for all participants in athletics in the UK, wherever they are, and at all levels,” said UK Athletics.

“The committee has a wide remit, including areas such as general conduct, anti-doping, safeguarding, anti-discrimination, anti-corruption and health and safety. It includes making sure that directives, codes and policies are in place, so everyone in the sport knows what is expected of them, and that disciplinary processes, licensing decisions and safeguarding cases are dealt with to the highest standards of regulatory best practice.

“The committee will also consider and advise on medical-legal and ethical issues raised with it by the chief executive.”

Following an open recruitment process, the UKA Board has appointed seven members to the committee, with the HCAFs each also providing a nominee.

The committee will be chaired by UKA’s senior independent director Penny Avis, with members including Kwadjo Adjepong; Dawn Allan (Scottish Athletics nominee); Wayne Barnes; Tony Clements (Welsh Athletics nominee); Janice Kaufman (England Athletics nominee); Paul Lawther (Athletics NI nominee); Dan O’Connor, Emily Ryall; Tim Soutar; Mark Webster and Richard Yates.

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UKA chair Nic Coward said: “The new committee is a first for athletics and shows again how the sport is working together to sort important issues.

“It’s great to welcome the committee members, who bring fantastic skills and experience, from a wide array of backgrounds, to help athletics in the UK.

“We identified the need for significant change in this vitally important area in March, which was reinforced by the recommendations of the independent review of the sport’s safeguarding approach.

“The committee, and the new clarity of role and responsibilities that many have worked hard to establish, are seriously positive moves.”

Terms of reference can be found here.