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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her polices of trends in levels publicly-funded swimming pool closures since 2019.

The Government recognises that sports clubs and facilities are important to communities up and down the country. High-quality, inclusive facilities help people get active. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to them and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.

Sport and physical activity, especially activities such as swimming, play a vital role in tackling the health challenges facing our nation through helping to treat and manage a wide range of health conditions. Swimming is not just a great way to get active, it is a fundamental life skill.

Sport England Active Places data evidences that since 2015 there has been a total of 291 swimming pool closures (on sites owned by Local Authorities), whilst there have been a total of 254 new swimming pools opened during this period.

We will continue to engage with Swim England, ukactive, and other key stakeholders to explore how we can work towards securing a vibrant future for swimming pools, enabling them to continue delivering their full potential for public health, economic growth, and the wellbeing of our communities.

The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure swimming facilities lies at local authority level. We are committed to supporting Local Government, recognising the significant financial challenges faced by the sector and by ensuring that funding goes to the places that need it most through the Local Government Finance Settlement.

We do not have plans to set targets, as it is for local areas to determine what they need, but we believe that robust plans should be in place.