Stephen Morgan MP invited Portsmouth-raised Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, to visit Portsmouth to see some of the challenges being faced, following the Committee’s report into grassroots participation in sports and physical activity.
The Public Accounts Committee recent report concluded that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has failed to fulfil its promise of an increase in grassroots participation as part of the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic games, highlighting that the Department “lacks a compelling vision for integrating physical activity into everyday life”.
70% of councils across the country are scaling back their investment in leisure activities, with swimming pool facilities most likely to be impacted due to rising energy costs.
Swim England previously forecasted 40% reduction in the number of available swimming facilities in the country by the end of the decade, predicting 4 million people nationally could be shut out of the activity they love due to closures. It has also warned this would leave 73% of local authorities short of the equivalent of at least one swimming pool.
In the south of the city currently there are only a few options that are available to the public for swimming, following the council’s decision to close facilities in Eastney and the Pyramids.
While a new site has been proposed at Bransbury Park, there has been no planning application made or external funding secured by the Lib-Dem run council, despite claims on leaflets that the plans had been “secured”. A planning application was expected last July but is yet to materialise.
Commenting on the impact locally, Stephen Morgan MP, said:
“The Government’s decade of decline in investing in our valuable sports and leisure facilities is having a huge impact on many local people in Portsmouth, who currently have limited access to a public swimming.
With overpromises, dither and delay, there is little wonder local people are telling us they don’t have confidence in proposals being delivered. With no planning application and deadlines extended, increasing costs means Portsmouth taxpayers will only suffer.
Access to opportunities for physical exercise is vital, and that’s why I will continue to urge the council and Sports England to bring forward their plans and deliver for local people”.
Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Meg Hiller MP, said:
“My Committee has been looking at grassroots participation in sports and physical activity and found clear evidence that the Government is not doing enough to protect our sports and leisure facilities.
Having grown up in Portsmouth, I am shocked to see this playing out firsthand in a local community. It is hard to believe there is no access to a public swimming pool in a seaside town.
This case presents further evidence that despite the government’s promises of increased participation in sport and physical activity and a reduction in inequalities – this has not become a reality”.
Labour candidate for Milton ward Paula Savage, said:
“After closing two pools in our end of the city, the local people are crying out for certainty on the future of Bransbury Park.
Rather than falsely claiming the plans are secured, the Lib Dems must bring forward the planning application as soon as possible and give local people the chance to have their say”.
Mr Morgan has taken a range of actions to help improve resident access to sports and leisure facilities, including writing to Sports England, meeting with council officers, and holding Ministers to account in Parliament on their plans to improve access to grassroots sport.
He has recently hosted the council in Parliament with Sport England to make the case for funding of leisure and sports facilities in the city, and visited Bransbury and existing leisure sites with council officers.
