Meeting of the Parliament 06 January 2026
A happy new year to you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and to everyone across the chamber.
Scottish Labour very much welcomes the debate, and I thank Jackson Carlaw and the Parliament’s Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee for securing it, given how precious parliamentary time is. This issue matters, and I commend the excellent work of Scottish Swimming’s staff and athletes in strongly advocating and campaigning for swimming to be accessible to all.
That is needed because, as we have heard, swimming is a life-saving skill. Swimming can boost the health and wellbeing of people of all ages, and it can ensure that our children and young people have the skills that they need to stay safe in the water. However, we should listen when Duncan Scott, Scotland’s most decorated Olympian, warns the Parliament that the number of drownings will only increase as a result of pool closures.
It is harder for our kids to learn to swim if the doors to the pools are locked; when swimming pools in Scotland close or community pools cut their opening hours; and when the cost of a swimming session rises. The cost of a swimming lesson has doubled since 2018, and, as we know, it is the poorest kids who are priced out. It is also harder because the pandemic resulted in growing waiting lists for kids’ swimming lessons. Everything right now seems to be making it harder, and it is our job to make it easier.
The petition before us urges the Scottish Government to keep our leisure facilities open. It also calls for urgent financial investment, and we know why that is needed. Years of Scottish National Party Government underfunding of Scotland’s local councils has resulted in local authority budgets being decimated, so that councils have less money to spend on leisure services and have to make difficult decisions.