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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will support local authorities to ensure that only level two qualified teachers teach swimming lessons to children and adults.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools. Swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy as well as being a crucial life skill in terms of water safety.

Sport England continues to invest in access to swimming, awarding £7,111,146 in grassroots swimming and diving, including £3,099,500 directly to Swim England, since the start of 2020. This supports Swim England’s work to develop the swimming workforce, including the Institute of Swimming which delivers training for swimming teachers.

Regulation of the wider sport and physical activity workforce is a key role of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMPSA). Sport England have invested £5 million into CIMSPA who are leading on the ‘Retrain to Retain’ programme which provides training to members of the sport workforce. This is currently being targeted at swimming teachers and potential swimming teachers to get them to return to work or join the industry.

On the Level 2 qualification, Sport England is funding CIMSPA to work with all governing bodies of sport to modernise their training for coaches and improve access to coaching qualifications, especially for people from underrepresented groups.