Grassroots sports funding “must benefit public gyms and pools”

Local government leaders have teamed up with the fitness and leisure sector to demand that public gyms and swimming pools receive a share of the £400 million announced in the government’s Spending Review for grassroots sports facilities.

The coalition – made up of the Local Government Association (LGA), Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association (CLOA), Community Leisure UK, Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers, Swim England, and ukactive – is calling for the funding to be invested in “vital community assets”, such as leisure centres, swimming pools and local gyms.

They argue that local authorities are “best placed” to identify where investment is most needed and to ensure the funding delivers maximum impact for communities. “With councils already the largest funders of public fitness and leisure services, directing investment through them would help safeguard and enhance the infrastructure that supports physical activity across the country,” the coalition said in a statement.

The call comes amid stark warnings about the state of the nation’s leisure infrastructure. Nearly a quarter (24%) of council areas face the risk of reducing or closing leisure services due to rising energy and operational costs. Since 2010, 500 swimming pools have closed, representing a loss of over 34,000 square metres of water space.

Huw Edwards, CEO of ukactive, added: “It’s vital that the Government doesn’t repeat the mistakes of the past by continuing to focus investment in facilities that have not delivered a happier, healthier nation.”