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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many local authority swimming pools have closed in each year since 2015.

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 in 2023/24, which is targeted at addressing cost pressures facing public swimming pool providers and helping make facilities sustainable in the long-term.

276 local authority swimming pools have closed since 2015. The breakdown per year is as follows:

• 2015: 40

• 2016: 36

• 2017: 31

• 2018: 23

• 2019: 31

• 2020: 38

• 2021: 26

• 2022: 28

• 2023: 23

These numbers should be considered in the context of facility provision within the local area. Facilities may close for a number of reasons: this can include the rationalisation of multiple older facilities into a modern, better located facility. In the same period from 2015-2023, 245 local authority swimming pools opened.

Data is stored by facility type (e.g. pool, health and fitness gym, or sports hall) rather than “leisure centre.” From 2015, approximately 261 local authority owned sites which had one or more pools, main halls, or health and fitness gyms, closed either fully or partially (where a facility within the site, including a pool or gym, may have closed). By region the figures are as follows:

• East Midlands: 26

• Eastern: 21

• London: 26

• North East: 29

• North West:41

• South East: 43

• South West: 21

• West Midlands: 29

• Yorkshire and the Humber: 25

At the same time, new facilities were constructed at 242 comparable sites.