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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the announcement by Greenwich Leisure on 22 November 2022 that they will be reducing opening hours at swimming pools due to heating costs.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.

We appreciate the impact rising energy prices will have on organisations of all sizes, including on leisure operators. In September the government announced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, under which businesses and other non-domestic energy users (including swimming pools) will be offered support. The EBRS is currently under review to ensure support is targeted to the most vulnerable sectors.

Officials in my department are in regular contact with representatives from the sector to assess the impact of rising energy costs, and how operators such as Greenwich Leisure and local authorities are responding to them.

Sport England has invested £12,775,274 in swimming and diving projects since April 2019, which includes £9,360,002 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund, which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic.