PROVISION OF PUBLIC SWIMMING POOLS

That this House is concerned at the inadequate provision of public swimming facilities in which British swimmers and potential contenders for inclusion in the United Kingdom's 2012 Olympic team can train, develop their skills and bring themselves up to world levels of competitiveness; regrets that nearly half of state schools with swimming pools have closed them in the last decade, despite a fifth of children starting secondary schools being unable to swim a length, that local authorities have cut back provision as a result of financial stringencies, that few new public pools are now being built, that the number of 50 metre pools is totally inadequate and that swimming has been dropped from the national curriculum; and calls on the Government to act quickly to give urgent financial incentives to schools and local authorities to provide more and better swimming facilities, so that Olympic contenders can be trained to international standards and more citizens can enjoy the satisfactions and health benefits of swimming.