Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to promote swimming for students with special needs.

The government’s sports strategy, Sporting Future, published in December 2015, included a commitment to establish a working group “to advise on how to ensure no child leaves school unable to meet a minimum standard of capability and confidence in swimming, including disabled young people and those with Special Educational Needs”.

In response, the Swim Group has published an independent report setting out recommendations on curriculum swimming. They investigated current provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and are conducting further research to understand the current situation.

Government has formed an implementation group to review the recommendations and work to support opportunities for all children to swim, including those with SEND.

Sport England work through Swim England to help leisure operators maximise pool usage, through pool scheduling and general management. This should support secure income streams and thereby maintain fair pricing for all users.

Sport England has invested over £5 million over the last two years in piloting ways to address some of the challenges that are commonly experienced by people who want to swim more, but feel that there are too many barriers.