Scotland’s swimming pools are in deep trouble

Rocketing energy prices, a hike in the cost of chemicals, crippling staff shortages and swingeing cuts to council budgets are set to leave Scotland’s swimmers high and dry.

Already, in a bid to stave off closure, pools across the country are taking drastic money-saving measures, lowering water temperatures, reducing opening hours, and cutting back on swimming lessons.

At the end of next month, the pool in Aberdeen’s Beach Leisure Centre will close, the first publicly-owned pool in Scotland to do so.

Although council bosses say the situation will be reviewed next spring, there is some scepticism about it ever reopening.

One official told The Herald on Sunday they thought it would be the “first of many” in Scotland to shut down.

All this comes amid the country’s horrendous drowning figures. Last year, there were 57 accidental drowning deaths in Scotland, three times the rate in England.

Eight of those were aged between five and 19, making it the fourth-biggest killer of children in the country.

Many of the problems stem from the pandemic, with venues closing down for much of the last two years.

Though the pools are ultimately council run, most are the responsibility of trusts and arms’-length organisations, with local authorities contributing to their running through management fees.

However, according to Community Leisure Scotland (CLS),the body that represents most of the country’s publicly funded leisure facilities, these fees have been cut dramatically in recent years, with trusts being “encouraged to become increasingly self-sufficient”.

However, Covid knocked that on the head. With no income coming in, operators were forced to look to high street bank loans and overdrafts.

Most plundered their reserves.

Even now that lockdown is over, the income has not recovered. Pools are expensive to run. They have generally been subsidised by more profitable activities, like gym memberships.

But since the pandemic, the number of people heading back to the gym is down significantly.

Research by CLS shows it “stagnating at the 70-80 per cent mark when compared to pre-Covid levels”.

Ironically, the only exception to this is increased demand for swimming lessons, which operators cannot facilitate.

There is a particular shortage of lifeguards and coaches.

It is not just that they left during Covid, but it was impossible to train new recruits.

In Glasgow, despite advertising for staff since December last year, the council says it is struggling even to get applications.

Glasgow Life has had to cut back on teaching kids to swim. The council has not taken on any new learners since before the pandemic.

It has also reduced capacity in its pools and brought in a requirement to book in advance, which means that only a handful of family swims are available, and most are snapped up promptly.

It is not just Covid. Brexit is also having an impact on recruitment, CLS says, with the “European labour market mobility no longer an option to source fresh talent”.

Meanwhile, a global lack of shipping containers, and a fire in a US chemical plant in late 2020, has led to a worldwide shortage of pool chemicals, pushing prices up.

And then there are the energy bills. According to CLS’s analysis, by next year they will have increased by an eye-watering 114%.

However, it is worth noting that forecast was made before Russia reduced the flow through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Wednesday to just 20%, forcing the wholesale price of gas to increase yet again.

Inverclyde Leisure, the not-for-profit charity responsible for running that council’s leisure offerings, is expecting a £400,000 increase in utility costs.

Last Friday, Stephen McCabe, the leader ofInverclyde Council, wrote to John Swinney who is covering the maternity leave of Finance Secretary Kate Forbes, warning him that tightening budgets will leave councils with difficult choices.

Earlier this year, the Scottish Government froze funding for local authorities at around £10.6 billion for the rest of the Parliament.

Cllr McCabe told The Herald on Sunday that without additional help from the Government there would need to be “wide-ranging” cuts to services.

“Swimming pools and leisure centres are among many areas currently being looked at as part of our budget process,” he said.

“While we don’t have any agreed proposals at this moment in time, it is clear that the scale of cuts to services required if we don’t get a fairer funding settlement is going to be wide-ranging.”

A Cosla spokesman pointed out that the “flat cash settlement” effectively means a significant real-terms cut given soaring inflation.

He added: “Over the last decade, councils have had to make increasingly difficult decisions about services available to communities.

“So, in a nutshell, we have less funding to deliver essential services.”

The spokesman said that councils were aware of the role public authority pools played in water safety and that they would continue to do all they could “to build personal resilience”.

“But this is getting increasingly challenging in the current financial context, where difficult decisions are having to be taken,” they added.

In its report, CLS says there has been a “fundamental loss of focus from both local and national governments on the value of public leisure and culture as a public service, viewing it as a cost rather than an investment”.

It has issued a stark warning: “If we do not reconsider how we invest in public leisure and culture, not only will we lose charities and community assets, but the Scottish Government will struggle to achieve its priorities on delivering a fairer and more equal society.”

Robin Strang from CLS told The Herald on Sunday: “What we’re really talking about is short-term support, a couple of years of additional funding to help get through this period.

"We think that if we can keep pools open, then things will begin to smooth out again in a few years time. As you know, once you close something it’s very difficult to reopen it again."

Scottish Tory MSP Oliver Mundell, an enthusiastic swimmer, said: “We can’t allow local pools to shut, despite the current cost-of-living crisis – and it’s the fault of the SNP Government that councils are forced to consider this option.

“Rather than give councils the resources needed to sustain key local services, the SNP have systemically cut local authority budgets for years.

"They must step in now to provide the money needed to keep swimming pools open.”

The Green MSP Gillian Mackay, also a keen swimmer, said: “Every aspect of our lives is being affected by the rising cost of living, but it’s vital we ensure that people continue to have affordable access to leisure facilities for their own health and wellbeing. So, I’d urge councils to look at how they can continue to facilitate access to these vital services.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The pandemic has been enormously difficult for everyone and we recognise the particular challenges for local authorities in maintaining swimming pools and other facilities during this time.

“We have regular engagement with Sportscotland and Scottish Swimming on this important issue and will continue to do so.”

A spokeswoman for Sportscotland said it was developing a new national school swimming framework as well as “developing, delivering and evaluating a number of pilot school swimming programmes across Scotland”.

She added: “Sportscotland and Scottish Swimming continue to monitor the situation with regards to the rising pool and facility operation costs associated in the main to energy prices.”