Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help support public swimming pools transition to renewable energy.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. We are committed to supporting these facilities to transition to renewable energy sources.

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures. The scheme supports the aim of reducing emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037, as set out in the Heat and Buildings Strategy and the Net Zero Strategy in October 2021.

Leisure centres are eligible for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. For example last year, during Phase 3a, Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council was awarded £1,728,500 to decarbonise the swimming pool at Todmorden Sports Centre.

The next application window to the scheme, Phase 3b, is planned to open in September, with the guidance published beforehand.

Sport England are also able to provide guidance on sustainable design formats for leisure centres. The recent redevelopment of St Sidwell's Point Leisure Centre in Exeter provides one such example.