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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the number of public (a) indoor and (b) outdoor swimming pools that have closed in each of the last five years.

Information on the number of publicly owned indoor and outdoor swimming pools that have closed and opened in each of the last 5 years is available via Sport England’s Active Places Power database which can be accessed here: https://www.activeplacespower.com/

Between 2017 and 2021 Sport England is investing £12.16 million in Swim England to get more people swimming, and £25 million through its Strategic Facilities Fund to construct 21 new state of the art leisure facilities which include swimming pools. We are also setting up an implementation group to explore the recommendations from the school swimming report, including how we can work with local authorities and private operators to make better use of facilities.