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Professional football club-owners in England will be overseen by a new licensing regime forcing them to demonstrate fully-funded three-year business plans under proposals to be set out by a former sports minister this week.

Sky News has learnt that a review of football’s governance led by Tracey Crouch, the Conservative MP, will outline the new structure as one option to avert future financial collapses of the kind seen at Bury in 2019.

It was unclear whether the new regime would apply to existing owners or only to those seeking to take control of clubs in future.

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The report by Tracey Crouch is due to be released on Thursday

Ms Crouch is expected to make roughly 50 recommendations in her review, which runs to approximately 150 pages and will be published on Thursday.

Some of the recommendations will require legislation to ensure their implementation, a process that could take several years depending upon the availability of parliamentary time.

The government is expected to formally respond to Ms Crouch’s review in the next few months.

Under the proposals, clubs could be required to set up ‘shadow boards’ for fans, which would allow them to influence non-football matters such as plans to relocate from their existing stadium or alter their badge or the colour of their home kit.

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These would form a series of “protected rights” that an owner or board would not be able to override without fans’ endorsement.

Ms Crouch floated the idea earlier this year of creating a ‘golden share’ that would give “veto powers over reserved items, to…a democratic legally constituted fan group”.

Her Independent Fan-Led Review of Football Governance is understood to raise a number of alternatives for promoting fan engagement.

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Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were involved in the ESL plan

Oversight of club-owners and directors, which is currently handled by the Premier League and English Football League (EFL), would pass to a new industry-funded Independent Regulator for English Football (IREF) under her proposals.

In her interim findings, published in July, Ms Crouch said IREF would “address issues that are most relevant to the risks to the game and already at least partially a matter of English law – particularly financial regulation, corporate governance and ownership”.

“The related requirements are likely to include cost controls, real time financial monitoring, minimum governance requirements (including a requirement for independent non-executive directors on club boards) and revised separate tests for owners and directors of clubs on an initial and ongoing basis,” she wrote in a letter to Mr Dowden in the summer.

One Whitehall source said the report would be a “powerful fulfilment” of the mandate given to Ms Crouch by Boris Johnson and Oliver Dowden, the then culture secretary, when they commissioned the review in April.

It was triggered by the outcry over plans by six Premier League clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – to join a new European Super League that would have earned the participants hundreds of millions of pounds, widening the financial gulf between them and the rest of English football.

The ESL was abandoned by the English clubs within 48 hours following interventions by public figures including Mr Johnson and the Duke of Cambridge, who is also president of the Football Association, but the project’s collapse failed to allay concerns about risks to the long-term health of the national game.

Some of the likely recommendations in Ms Crouch’s review, such as a requirement for the Premier League to commit additional funding to the rest of the English football pyramid, have already been partially addressed.

The Premier League announced last week that it would allocate a further £25m to the EFL – the three divisions below the top flight – and the National League, which have been hit hard by the pandemic.

Clubs from the top tier down have been forced to take on substantial new debts in order to continue funding themselves, raising fears that more may face going out of business.

Derby County, which fell into administration last month, was this week hit by an additional nine-point deduction after acknowledging breaches of the EFL’s profitability and sustainability rules.

Last week, the Daily Mail reported that the EFL chairman Rick Parry had expressed support for the principle of an independent football regulator, although the idea has been rejected by the Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Masters.

Earlier this week, Sky News revealed that Gary Hoffman, the Premier League chairman, was to resign amid pressure from clubs over its handling of the controversial Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle United.

A spokesman for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) declined to comment on Tuesday.

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Millions urged to read energy meters this weekend to avoid overpaying as price cap falls again

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Millions urged to read energy meters this weekend to avoid overpaying as price cap falls again

Millions of people are being urged to send meter readings to their energy supplier this weekend to ensure they don’t overpay.

The regulator’s price cap drops 12.3% on Monday 1 April, from a typical £1,928 per year for a dual-fuel household to £1,690 – an average saving of about £20 per month.

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People without a smart meter who are on a standard variable tariff (SVT) should send readings so their company has an up-to-date record when the prices change.

“If you delay submitting your readings, some of your energy usage could end up being charged under the higher rates we’re currently facing,” said Ben Gallizzi, energy spokesman for comparison site Uswitch.

This could happen as firms will estimate usage if they don’t have recent readings.

However, if you have a smart meter you shouldn’t have to worry as it’s set up to automatically ensure you are billed correctly.

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Uswitch says a week of energy at the current rates is £4.65 more expensive for the average household than the incoming rates.

About 10 million customers are thought to be on a SVT without a smart meter.

The combination of the cheaper rates and warmer weather is estimated to mean the average household will spend £127 on gas and electricity in April, compared with £205 in March.

Nearly a fifth of people without a smart meter have not submitted a reading in the last three months and 4% haven’t done it for a year, according to a Uswitch survey of 2,000 people.

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Twelve percent of these customers said they didn’t know where their meter was, while 14% didn’t know how to take a reading.

People without a smart meter are advised to read their meter every month to improve the accuracy of their bills.

The price cap is set by energy regulator Ofgem and is being cut again from the extreme highs of recent years – when it reached over £4,000 – thanks to a drop in wholesale prices,

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Ofgem also launched a consultation on the energy price cap this week, floating options such as a cap based on vulnerability and when energy is used.

The cap, which affects England, Scotland and Wales, was introduced in January 2019 to prevent people on variable tariffs being ripped off.

Initially it was changed a couple of times a year but since 2022 it has been updated every three months.

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‘Modest’ £63 rise in statutory sick pay is overdue, MPs say

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'Modest' £63 rise in statutory sick pay is overdue, MPs say

A “modest” increase in statutory sick pay (SSP) is overdue, according to a committee of MPs who say it must strike a balance between workers’ needs and what employers can afford.

The Work and Pensions Committee recommended a rate in line with the flat rate of Statutory Maternity Pay.

That would see SSP rise from the current weekly level of £109.40 to £172.48 per week.

The MPs also wanted to see SSP paid in combination with usual wages, in order to encourage phased returns to work.

The cross-party committee argued too that all workers should be eligible for SSP, not just those earning above the lower earnings limit of £123.

The government responded to the report by saying that a 6.7% increase would take effect next month.

In making their case, the MPs said they understood that the COVID pandemic and its immediate aftermath were not the right times to be placing additional financial burdens on employers.

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But they noted that a record 185.6 million working days had been lost to sickness or injury in 2022 – a time when the cost of living crisis was gathering pace.

Committee chair Sir Stephen Timms said it was clear the time had come to significantly bolster the support that many people depended on when they were unable to work.

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“Statutory sick pay is failing in its primary purpose to act as a safety net for workers who most need financial help during illness,” he wrote.

“With the country continuing to face high rates of sickness absence, the government can no longer afford to keep kicking the can down the road on reform.

“The committee’s proposals strike the right balance between widening and strengthening support and not placing excessive burdens on business.

“A growing number of workers are now classified as self-employed and a new contributory sick pay scheme for self-employed people would be a welcome step towards ensuring they are they are no worse off financially during periods of sickness than employees on SSP.”

Companies, while sympathising with staff generally over sickness, have long complained about rising costs including for business rates and minimum pay rules.

Lobby groups have warned that the burden already risks being passed on in the form of higher prices, placing the rate of inflation under strain.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said of the report: “Statutory Sick Pay will increase by 6.7% from April.

“Our £2.5bn Back to Work Plan is tackling sickness absence and getting people back working, while we are expanding access to mental health services and supporting those at risk of long-term unemployment.”

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak responded: “The COVID-19 pandemic showed that our sick pay system is in desperate need of reform.

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“It beggars belief that ministers have done nothing to fix sick pay since.

“It’s a disgrace that so many low-paid and insecure workers up and down the country – most of them women – have to go without financial support when sick.

“The committee is right that ministers urgently need to remove the lower earnings limit and raise the rate of sick pay.

“Wider reform is also needed to remove the three days people must wait before they get any sick pay at all.”

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Boohoo, ASOS and Asda sign new agreement as CMA urges fashion industry to review ‘green’ claims and practices

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Boohoo, ASOS  and Asda sign new agreement as CMA urges fashion industry to review 'green' claims and practices

The competition regulator has urged UK fashion businesses to give accurate information about how environmentally friendly their clothes are after three fast-fashion firms signed a new agreement.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had initiated an investigation into Boohoo, ASOS and George by Asda over concerns about the way products were marketed as eco-friendly.

Its initial review of the fashion sector had identified concerns of possible greenwashing – making items appear environmentally friendly when they are not.

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But the firms have pledged to provide clear, prominent and transparent information about any environmental claims made about products, such as using terms like organic or recycled, rather than ambiguous ones like eco, responsible, or sustainable, with no further explanation.

Use of natural imagery such as green leaves or logos to suggest non-existent environmental benefits will also be avoided by the brands.

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Environmental information must be expressed in plain language, be easy to read, and clearly visible to shoppers.

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Any statements about fabric composition must be similarly clear and specific: the percentage of recycled or organic fibres must be clearly displayed.

If a brand has a specific range of clothes, designed to have less of a negative environmental impact than other products, then companies must provide detail on minimum requirements for items to be included in the collection.

Minimum percentages of recycled material, for example, should be made clear.

Any environmental targets set by fashion businesses must be supported by a clear and verifiable strategy with customers able to access more details about the goals.

Information must be provided on what the target is aiming to achieve, the date by which it is to be met, and how the company will reach it.

“A turning point for the industry”

These pledges “set a benchmark for the industry”, the CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said, and build on already established marketing regulations.

In an open letter, the CMA called on fashion businesses to familiarise themselves with the new undertakings.

“This also marks a turning point for the industry… we expect the sector as a whole – from high street to designer brands – to take note and review their own practices,” Ms Cardell said.

More guidance for the fashion industry is to be published by the CMA, it said.

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