SWIMMING POOLS GET £63M BOOST FROM BUDGET

By DeeDee Doke

Publicly owned leisure centres with swimming pools have been handed a financial boost following the announcement of a major new fund in the Spring Budget, announced on 15 March.

According to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, £63m of new money will be made available in a one-year fund.

The fund, which will be managed by Sport England, will allow local authorities to apply for funding for leisure centres with pools that face immediate cost pressures including operational and maintenance costs, and energy bills.

There are more than 2,000 public leisure centres in England, over 800 of which have pools, and these play a vital role in helping communities engage with sport and physical activity. They provide vital services which are not available through other providers, a Sport England statement said.

Sport England CEO Tim Hollingsworth said it is vital this money goes where it can make the greatest difference.

“This is a significant and welcome amount of support from the Government that will offer a lifeline to many public leisure centres across England as well as help sustain them into the future,” he said.

“Swimming pools play a vital role in our communities and are enormously important in helping people to be physically active in their daily lives.

“We know how difficult the present situation is and have been working hard to ensure these providers get the support they need. We’ll now turn our efforts to supporting the process in the weeks ahead to distribute the funding made available today to ensure it goes where it is needed the most.”

A key aim of the fund will be to help these facilities to become more energy efficient, Sport England said.

In total, £40m of the fund will be made available for investment in decarbonisation and long-term energy efficiency, while £23m will help with costs to make these essential local hubs more energy efficient.

Council-run pools, pools run on behalf of councils by private companies and by charities are all eligible for support.

The report provides an overview of the current landscape and outlines a model direction of travel that will enable the sector to create a more sustainable future.

More information on how local authorities can apply for funding and detailed eligibility criteria will be made available in due course.