Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Leisure Centre Closures: North Shropshire

Thursday 22 February 2024 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Leisure centres are crucial for social and mental health outcomes in North Shropshire.
  • The government has provided 60 million for swimming pools and over 300 million to support facilities across England.
  • The Minister is willing to meet to discuss challenges and opportunities for sustaining leisure centres in Shropshire.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Helen Morgan Lib Dem North Shropshire
Housing Community Security Environment
Context

Whitchurch swimming pool closed in March 2020 and is set to reopen with funding, but the council plans significant budget cuts for pools and leisure centres, raising concerns about access to healthy activities.

Question

What assessment has been made of the impact of leisure centre closures on North Shropshire? Whitchurch swimming pool closed in March 2020 but will soon reopen. However, the local council announced plans to cut budgets for pools and leisure centres next year. Given poor public transport, I am concerned about young people's ability to learn to swim and the community losing access to healthy lifestyle options. Will the Minister meet me to ensure ongoing accessibility?

Answer from Stuart Andrew

Leisure centres are crucial for social and mental health outcomes, and we have provided £60 million for swimming pools across England. We recognise specific challenges such as high energy bills and provide over £300 million to support facilities up and down the country, including rural areas.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Meeting request

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Q2 Helen Morgan Lib Dem North Shropshire
Housing Environment
Context

Whitchurch swimming pool closed in March 2020 but is set to reopen. However, the council plans budget cuts for pools and leisure centres next year, raising concerns about young people's access to swimming lessons and community health.

Question

Will the Minister meet me to discuss ensuring that young people in North Shropshire can learn to swim and the wider community has ongoing access to healthy activities despite planned budget cuts?

Answer from Stuart Andrew

We provided £60 million for swimming pools to address challenges such as high energy bills. We are supporting facilities up and down the country with over £300 million, helping more people become active as part of our Get Active sports strategy.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Meeting request

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Q3 Philip Dunne Con
Housing Energy
Context

Shropshire is facing budgetary pressures, raising concerns about the sustainability of local leisure facilities and their importance to community health.

Question

Will my right hon. Friend meet me to discuss challenges faced by leisure centres in areas like Shropshire with financial constraints? He mentioned funding for swimming pools but there might be other opportunities to sustain these resources.

Answer from Stuart Andrew

We are committed to providing support for swimming pools and facilities up and down the country, addressing challenges such as high energy bills. We will conduct work to identify black spots where more facilities should be provided based on local needs.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Meeting request

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