Meeting of the Parliament 06 January 2026
That was very much the view that the committee took and is taken by some councils—albeit increasingly fewer, because of the pressures and considerations that I have detailed.
Both the committee and our witnesses acknowledge the role of local authorities and the importance of local democracy. However, we have heard that the current approach is piecemeal and demonstrably inadequate. Our witnesses advocated for the establishment of a national task force to explore how swimming pools can be kept open, how access can be maintained for people and what sustainable models can be developed for the future. Such a task force would be made up of local authorities, trusts, sportscotland and Scottish Swimming—and, of course, would be under the leadership of the Scottish Government. The committee has asked the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to potentially establishing such a task force. However, in my view at least, the Government is yet to answer that substantive question.
Our witnesses whole-heartedly supported the introduction of a statutory duty to ensure that every child in Scotland has the opportunity to learn to swim. I think that that was what Paul Sweeney was alluding to. Scottish Swimming has lobbied hard to get swimming back on to school curricula, and we understand that there is cross-party support for that.
The Government’s position is that education authorities and individual schools are best placed to decide the content of their lessons, and that there may be specific challenges for schools when it comes to distance from or access to swimming pools. To the committee, that argument does not hold much water, given that maintaining wide access to swimming pools is precisely what the petition is trying to achieve. I therefore hope to hear the minister providing more substantive responses on both the potential establishment of a task force and the introduction of a statutory duty to have swimming as part of school curricula, as advocated by our witnesses.
The committee is persuaded that the amplitude and seriousness of the situation demand much more than business-as-usual “engagement” between stakeholders and a treading-water “commitment” to working together.