Chamber and committees

Sorry, Presiding Officer.

It is interesting that the minister said that that money has already been allocated, because John Swinney had to correct the record at the end of May, having intervened on me. He admitted that it was actually new money and not part of any money that had already been allocated. Is the minister sure that what she said—that the money has been allocated—is correct? That is not what the former Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy seemed to say in his response to me.

I completely agree with that, but I am seeing pools up and down the country closing. That is the point that Duncan Scott made to the First Minister, and I would like to hear from the First Minister what the Scottish Government will do about that. It is not enough for it simply to pin the blame on local authorities that are seeing their budgets squeezed. If it values and cares about water safety, it needs to fund those local pools correctly.

There is a potential lifeline. The UK Government announced additional funding for swimming pools in March—£60 million of new money that would have helped our public pools to stay open. Of course, the UK Government could not give that direct to local government, as that would have been against the devolution agreement, and the money went to the Scottish Government instead. As far as I am aware, not one penny of that cash for swimming pools has been passed to local authorities to help keep pools open.

The Scottish Government has no excuses for pools closing. It was given the money, but shamefully decided not to pass it on. No doubt we will hear warm words from the minister saying that they are doing everything that they can to reduce the number of people drowning, but that is all that it will be: warm words. If the Scottish Government is serious about reducing the number of deaths, it needs to support more children, from all backgrounds, to learn to swim. Therefore, it needs to stop the tide of public swimming pools closing. For that to happen, it needs to do the right thing and pass on the Barnett consequentials that were given to local authorities by the UK Government to save our swimming pools.

Will the minister give way?

Will the minister take an intervention?

I thank Clare Adamson for securing the debate on this serious and vital issue. I commend the many organisations that do so much to promote awareness of water safety and provide practical help and training, which give someone who gets into difficulty a better chance of recovering and avoiding a tragedy.

I remember that, when I was a kid many years ago, part of the school curriculum was being taught how to swim in the local swimming pool; it was uptown baths at the time. I must admit that I hated it; the swimming pool was freezing cold and the water made my eyes sting, but I learned how to swim, which is such a valuable life lesson.

To be honest, I have never been someone who enjoys swimming, but I know that I can swim if I need to. That gave me the confidence to go out on boats on holiday—always with a life jacket, I must add—and enjoy the fun that water sports can bring, if done safely and carefully.

When I started researching for today’s debate, I was surprised to learn that many of our schoolchildren are not learning to swim. For example, 25 per cent of children leave primary school are unable to swim. That in itself does not tell us the whole picture; I would imagine that the number will be a lot higher in our more deprived areas.

As more of our public swimming pools are closing, more people will be turning to private pools and gyms to learn to swim. I must admit that I was lucky enough to join my local private gym, and both my children learned to swim there, but what about those who cannot afford the £150+ a month for a family membership? Those children are missing out on a life skill that everyone should have.

Yesterday, Olympic swimmer Duncan Scott wrote to the First Minister in protest at the closure of public swimming pools, telling him that pools boost health, fitness and safety. I completely agree. This devolved Government often talks about early intervention and prevention but, when it comes to health and wellbeing, it is all talk. Is it any wonder that our nation is becoming more unhealthy when these vital local facilities are closing? That will also place a much greater burden on our national health service in the future.

Bucksburn swimming pool in Aberdeen, where I represent, has recently closed its doors. It was an absolutely shocking decision by the local authority, which the local community is now taking it to court over, as it fights to have the pool—the only one in the area that can be accessed by people with disabilities—reopened.

Does the member share my concern that a potential economic divide is appearing in that regard? We have people who can afford swimming lessons and can go to private pools, but there are no public pools left for everyone else.

It is interesting that you say that it has already—

Will the minister give way?

Fulton MacGregor’s party often talks about how the UK Government should be doing more. Would he not agree that, in this instance, it has done more? It has given money to the Scottish Government but that money has not been passed on to the swimming pools.

On online solutions, can each council develop its own system for, say, parking permits, although that issue probably does not affect everyone here, and put it online? Is there some guidance from the centre? How does that work?