West Lothian Council have issued a stern response to an open letter from Scottish Swimming criticising their decision to close three swimming pools.
The Broxburn pool is set to close alongside pools and gyms at Xcite Armadale and Xcite Livingston on August 31.
Earlier this week, West Lothian Council had agreed to plans to axe the three local swimming pools, but keep open Howden Park Centre which had also been threatened with closure with funding secured until March.
The council granted its consent to the overall plans which West Lothian Leisure say are “vital” to saving the entire charity.
However, the decision received criticism from the local community as well as Scottish Swimming, the sport’s governing body.
They issued an open letter through CEO Euan Lowe to the Council urging them to reconsider the decision.
The letter read: “I write on behalf of the thousands of children, club swimmers, adults and families who use Broxburn, Armadale and Livingston swimming pools in West Lothian to ask you to reconsider Tuesday’s decision to close these pools on 31 August 2023.
“As governing body for aquatic sports in Scotland, Scottish Swimming are passionate about ensuring all children and adults have access to local pools for their fitness, health, wellbeing and above all – safety.
“It is Drowning Prevention Week this week when 75,000 children in Scotland receive vital water safety lessons in pools across the country so we wonder what message these pool closures send?”
The statement continued: “Scottish Swimming visited Broxburn pool recently to celebrate West Lothian Leisure winning the Scottish Swimming Learn to Swim provider of the year and we were delighted to see so many children thriving in their local swimming pool environment.
“Over 1000 children every week are using Broxburn pool alone, not to mention the families, the elderly and the club swimmers who rely on the pool for mental and physical health and wellbeing. I am sure that is replicated at Armadale and Livingston pool.
“While Winchburgh pool is the next closest to Broxburn there is no reliable, frequent public transport service and the pool is not always publicly accessible. We know there are school pools in the area, but they do not have the same access.
“We are aware of cost pressures, of squeezed local government budgets and of high energy bills but pools have always been costly to run. This is not new.
“But, the benefits of swimming and the savings it creates from a health, social and safety perspective are significant. Health and wellbeing savings from Leisure Trust and Local Authority pools alone were estimated at £42 million in 2022.
“The real impact of pools is on individual lives. Swimming pools are happy, safe spaces which are the beating heart of local communities. Our message is simple: Please reconsider this decision and help Broxburn, Armadale and Livingston pools to not only survive, but to thrive in the communities they serve.”
In response, the Council claimed the will still have ‘considerably’ more public swimming pools even following the closures and stated the combined operating deficits at the three pools would be expected to be over £900,000 next year and argued that West Lothian Leisure ‘can no longer afford to operate them.’
A Council spokesperson commented: “We share the disappointment felt that pools in West Lothian have to close due to a lack of funding.
“West Lothian has considerably more public swimming pools compared to other areas in Scotland, and the change will mean that the number of public swimming pools in West Lothian will reduce from 19 to 16.
“West Lothian will therefore continue to have a much higher number of pools compared to the majority of areas within Scotland.
“West Lothian Leisure has confirmed that these three facilities currently make a significant monthly financial loss and they can no longer afford to operate them.
“If they do not close, WLL faces the risk of insolvency, which could mean the closure of all Xcite facilities, and many more swimming pools could close. The three Xcite pools are expected to make a combined operating deficit of over £900,000 next year alone and require additional capital investment.”
They added: “Before West Lothian Leisure close their three pools on 31 August, the council will increase the availability and access to other pools in each of the towns directly affected, in an effort to help mitigate the closures.
“West Lothian Leisure has, however, confirmed that the Learn2Swim programme for children will not be reduced and will continue to be delivered. The council will actively engage with groups expressing an interest in Community Asset Transfer of these three facilities, including Scottish Swimming, should they wish to explore this avenue.
“The Council has also written to Scottish Government Minister to highlight the decisions taken and to place on record the council’s view that the Scottish Government has failed communities in West Lothian through continued underfunding of local authorities, and by not providing funding to support the retention of swimming pools and other venues, despite having resources available which it could use for this.”
Leader of West Lothian Council, Lawrence Fitzpatrick, added: “I am devastated that we are in this position whereby we have to grant West Lothian Leisure consent to cease operations at these three pools. We are all extremely saddened and disappointed that WLL are in this position.
“For 15 years and more, local government has been provided with insufficient levels of funding by the Scottish Government and that is combined with increasing costs. More and more of our funding is ring-fenced or directed for national policies and the choices and flexibility afforded to local government to make local decisions is restricted, year after year.
“That’s why we’re in this position and that’s why, after such a prolonged period of hardship, we are here today. This is a day that, I believe, nobody at West Lothian Leisure or West Lothian Council wanted to see.”
He added: “Last month the council wrote to the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Minister requesting financial support for this very issue given that, in the Spring budget earlier this year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced funding of £63 million to support swimming pools remaining open in England. Around £70 million of Barnett consequentials will go to the Scottish Government in 2023/24 and, to date, no funding has been provided by the Scottish Government to specifically support swimming pools in Scotland.
“Given the gravity of the situation, with the needs of the community and jobs at stake, we wrote to the Cabinet Minister requesting funding support.
“Unfortunately, that has not come to fruition. Local Government cannot continue to provide the same level of local services without adequate levels of funding – it is simply impossible.”
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