Sports minister Nigel Huddleston says the Government is committed to reopening leisure facilities in England “as early as possible in July” after several Members of Parliament raised the issue with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Swimming pools had expected to be able to reopen from 4 July only for their hopes to be dashed despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson giving the green light for pubs, restaurants, hair salons, cinemas and museums to open for business once again from this coming Saturday.
Swim England CEO Jane Nickerson called for scientific evidence as to why they remained closed while Swim England launched the #OpenOurPools campaign which won backing from past and present Olympic champions Becky Adlington and Adam Peaty as a petition collected more than 50,000 signatures.
A delegation of Government and public health officials then made a tour of four indoor and outdoor pools on Wednesday which gave Nickerson cause for optimism that progress was being made.
Milton Keynes North MP Ben Everitt asked what steps were being taken to enable the reopening of swimming pools as Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were eased and if there was an estimated date when swimming pools may reopen.
In response, Mr Huddleston wrote:
“Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active.
“The Government is committed to reopening facilities as soon as it is safe to do so.
“The Sport Working Group, led by myself, feeds into the Secretary of State’s Cultural Renewal Taskforce and ensures strong sector and expert support for the co-development of guidelines and will help leisure facilities become Covid-secure and reopen as early as possible in July.
“As with all aspects of the Government’s response to Covid-19, we will be guided by the science to ensure that as restrictions are eased people can return to activity safely.”
He added:
“I recognise the impact that Covid-19 has had on the sport and physical activity sector.
“The Government is committed to reopening facilities as soon as it is safe to do so and I welcome the work Swim England are doing with the sector to produce guidance on the re-opening of swimming pools.”
Nickerson said:
“We welcome the fact the issue of pools staying shut is being raised by a number of MPs and we thank them for doing that.
“Our Returning to the Pool guidance clearly shows that pools can be used safely and there is a huge demand from people to be able to return to the water as soon as possible.”
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?fingers crossed
Please open the pools