boost For Swimming Pools In Spring Budget
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 Wednesday 15th March, the Chancellor of the Exchequer outlined that £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.
Sport England Chief Executive, Tim Hollingsworth, commented, “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.
“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 the facilities to ‘become more energy efficient.’ £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.’
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, added, “Soaring bills are hitting us all hard, and community pools have been thrown in the deep end. I know they are loved by millions of people. This vital lifeline will keep them afloat.”
