Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase funding for (a) community groups and (b) sports clubs.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Community groups and grassroots sport play an important role in local areas, and supporting them is a priority for the Government.
Last year, Sport England received almost £350 million from the Government and National Lottery to fund grassroots sports projects so that everyone is able to access quality sport and physical activity opportunities, and enjoy the physical and mental health benefits that exercise provides.
We are investing £300 million to develop thousands of state-of-the-art multi-use sports facilities across the UK. The Government has also committed £30 million a year for three years to school sport facilities in England, and over £20 million with the Lawn Tennis Association to renovate park tennis courts across England, Scotland and Wales.
At the Spring Budget, we also announced a £63 million package to address the cost pressures facing some public swimming pool providers, and provide investment in energy efficiency measures to make facilities sustainable in the long-term. These interventions will help ensure that people across the UK are able to get active.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is taking a number of steps to support community groups. This includes support from the National Lottery Community Fund for a range of community projects, including £615m awarded in the last financial year. In addition, and among other measures, the Government announced a package of over £100m at the Spring Budget to support charities and community organisations in England with cost of living pressures.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2023 to Question 191212 on Swimming Pools: Greater Manchester, how much and what proportion of the additional £60 million support package will be allocated to local authority-run swimming pools in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Funding allocations for the Swimming Pool Support Fund will be made after a competitive application process, the first phase of which is now open and will close on 11 August. All Local Authorities with swimming pools are encouraged to apply. The second phase - covering capital investment - will follow this.
After the application process closes, grants will be made directly by Sport England to successful local authorities. As the application process is currently ongoing, no decisions on the allocation of funding have yet been made. Further details on the Swimming Pool Support Fund, including information on how to apply, can be found on the Sport England website.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2023 to Question 191585 on Swimming Pools: Local Government, which councils operate lidos.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government does not directly hold data on individual lidos and Sport England data cannot be used to estimate the number of temporarily closed facilities at a point in the past.
The numbers of lidos in operation in England on local authority owned sites from 2010-2019 are as follows:
2010 – 89
2011 – 89
2012 – 84
2013 – 84
2014 – 85
2015 – 85
2016 – 84
2017 – 84
2018 – 82
2019 – 82
As of July 2023, there are 81 lido pools across 63 local authority owned sites in England. The total number of facilities by local authority area is as follows:
Barnet - 1
Bedford - 1
Bradford - 1
Brighton and Hove - 1
Buckinghamshire - 3
Cambridge - 3
Camden - 5
Central Bedfordshire - 1
Cheltenham - 2
Cherwell - 1
Cheshire East - 1
Colchester - 1
Cornwall - 3
Dacorum - 1
Derbyshire Dales - 1
Dorset - 1
East Hertfordshire - 2
East Lindsey - 1
Eden - 1
Guildford - 1
Hackney - 1
Haringey - 2
Hillingdon - 2
Horsham - 1
Lambeth - 1
Medway - 1
Mendip - 2
Mid Sussex - 1
New Forest - 1
North Hertfordshire - 4
North Kesteven - 1
North West Leicestershire - 2
Nuneaton and Bedworth - 1
Oxford - 1
Peterborough - 4
Plymouth - 3
Richmond upon Thames - 1
Rushmoor - 1
South Oxfordshire - 1
South Somerset - 1
St Albans - 1
Stroud - 2
Teignbridge - 1
Tonbridge and Malling - 1
Torbay - 1
Vale of White Horse - 1
Wandsworth - 2
West Berkshire - 2
West Oxfordshire - 2
Wiltshire - 1
Wokingham - 1
Worthing - 1
Wychavon - 1
Of these, 10 lidos are temporarily closed (Bedford (1), Cornwall (2), Hillingdon (1), New Forest (1), North Hertfordshire (1), Peterborough (3), Worthing (1)).
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many council-run lidos were in operation in England in each year between 2010 and 2019.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government does not directly hold data on individual lidos and Sport England data cannot be used to estimate the number of temporarily closed facilities at a point in the past.
The numbers of lidos in operation in England on local authority owned sites from 2010-2019 are as follows:
2010 – 89
2011 – 89
2012 – 84
2013 – 84
2014 – 85
2015 – 85
2016 – 84
2017 – 84
2018 – 82
2019 – 82
As of July 2023, there are 81 lido pools across 63 local authority owned sites in England. The total number of facilities by local authority area is as follows:
Barnet - 1
Bedford - 1
Bradford - 1
Brighton and Hove - 1
Buckinghamshire - 3
Cambridge - 3
Camden - 5
Central Bedfordshire - 1
Cheltenham - 2
Cherwell - 1
Cheshire East - 1
Colchester - 1
Cornwall - 3
Dacorum - 1
Derbyshire Dales - 1
Dorset - 1
East Hertfordshire - 2
East Lindsey - 1
Eden - 1
Guildford - 1
Hackney - 1
Haringey - 2
Hillingdon - 2
Horsham - 1
Lambeth - 1
Medway - 1
Mendip - 2
Mid Sussex - 1
New Forest - 1
North Hertfordshire - 4
North Kesteven - 1
North West Leicestershire - 2
Nuneaton and Bedworth - 1
Oxford - 1
Peterborough - 4
Plymouth - 3
Richmond upon Thames - 1
Rushmoor - 1
South Oxfordshire - 1
South Somerset - 1
St Albans - 1
Stroud - 2
Teignbridge - 1
Tonbridge and Malling - 1
Torbay - 1
Vale of White Horse - 1
Wandsworth - 2
West Berkshire - 2
West Oxfordshire - 2
Wiltshire - 1
Wokingham - 1
Worthing - 1
Wychavon - 1
Of these, 10 lidos are temporarily closed (Bedford (1), Cornwall (2), Hillingdon (1), New Forest (1), North Hertfordshire (1), Peterborough (3), Worthing (1)).
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2023 to question 191585 on Swimming Pools: Local Government, how many council-run lidos have been temporarily closed in each year since 2019.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government does not directly hold data on individual lidos and Sport England data cannot be used to estimate the number of temporarily closed facilities at a point in the past.
The numbers of lidos in operation in England on local authority owned sites from 2010-2019 are as follows:
2010 – 89
2011 – 89
2012 – 84
2013 – 84
2014 – 85
2015 – 85
2016 – 84
2017 – 84
2018 – 82
2019 – 82
As of July 2023, there are 81 lido pools across 63 local authority owned sites in England. The total number of facilities by local authority area is as follows:
Barnet - 1
Bedford - 1
Bradford - 1
Brighton and Hove - 1
Buckinghamshire - 3
Cambridge - 3
Camden - 5
Central Bedfordshire - 1
Cheltenham - 2
Cherwell - 1
Cheshire East - 1
Colchester - 1
Cornwall - 3
Dacorum - 1
Derbyshire Dales - 1
Dorset - 1
East Hertfordshire - 2
East Lindsey - 1
Eden - 1
Guildford - 1
Hackney - 1
Haringey - 2
Hillingdon - 2
Horsham - 1
Lambeth - 1
Medway - 1
Mendip - 2
Mid Sussex - 1
New Forest - 1
North Hertfordshire - 4
North Kesteven - 1
North West Leicestershire - 2
Nuneaton and Bedworth - 1
Oxford - 1
Peterborough - 4
Plymouth - 3
Richmond upon Thames - 1
Rushmoor - 1
South Oxfordshire - 1
South Somerset - 1
St Albans - 1
Stroud - 2
Teignbridge - 1
Tonbridge and Malling - 1
Torbay - 1
Vale of White Horse - 1
Wandsworth - 2
West Berkshire - 2
West Oxfordshire - 2
Wiltshire - 1
Wokingham - 1
Worthing - 1
Wychavon - 1
Of these, 10 lidos are temporarily closed (Bedford (1), Cornwall (2), Hillingdon (1), New Forest (1), North Hertfordshire (1), Peterborough (3), Worthing (1)).
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of council-run swimming pools in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as 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 have also confirmed an additional £60 million support package for swimming pools, which is targeted at addressing cost pressures facing public swimming pool providers and helping make facilities sustainable in the long-term.
Data held by Sport England shows that at June 2023 there are 86 operational swimming pools (with 5 temporarily closed) across 48 sites owned by Local Authorities in the Greater Manchester area.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many council run lidos were in operation in England in each year since 2019.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is clear on the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as 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 have also confirmed an additional £60 million support package for swimming pools, which is targeted at addressing cost pressures facing public swimming pool providers and helping make facilities sustainable in the long-term.
The number of operational lidos (which includes temporary closures, of which there are currently 10) on local authority owned sites from 2019-2023 is as follows:
2019 – 82
2020 – 81
2021 – 81
2022 – 80
2023 – 81
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 June 2023 to Question 189203, whether the Sport England data shows how many local authority swimming pools were open in the North West in June 2013.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government does not hold data on individual swimming clubs, but Sport England data shows that the number of operational swimming pools on sites owned by Local Authorities in the North West in June 2013 was 239.
We regularly engage with Local Authorities and the Local Government Association (LGA) on the provision of swimming pools, particularly in light of the £63 million support package for swimming pools announced at the Budget. This package will help provide investment in energy efficiency measures to reduce future operating costs and make facilities sustainable in the long-term.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities on the provision of swimming facilities.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government does not hold data on individual swimming clubs, but Sport England data shows that the number of operational swimming pools on sites owned by Local Authorities in the North West in June 2013 was 239.
We regularly engage with Local Authorities and the Local Government Association (LGA) on the provision of swimming pools, particularly in light of the £63 million support package for swimming pools announced at the Budget. This package will help provide investment in energy efficiency measures to reduce future operating costs and make facilities sustainable in the long-term.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to educate pupils on the potential danger of open water swimming.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Water safety is a vital life skill, which is why swimming and water safety is a compulsory part of the PE and Sport National Curriculum at Key Stages 1 and 2. Pupils should be taught how to perform safe self rescue in a variety of water based situations, including open water.
Schools can also use the Personal, Social, Health and Economic curriculum to equip pupils with a sound understanding of risk and with the knowledge necessary to make safe and informed decisions, which is a vital part of water safety.
The Department is working in partnership with members of the National Water Safety Forum, in particular the Royal Life Saving Society UK, Swim England, and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Together with the Department, these organisations are supporting more schools to teach primary and secondary pupils important aspects of water safety, such as cold water shock, rip tides and keeping safe near frozen water. New resources for pupils in Key Stages 1 to 3 have been provided by the National Water Safety Forum, supporting teachers to deliver water safety in a classroom environment.