Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 17 September 2019.
The current scheme has come to an end, of course, and there are implications to that. Rightly or wrongly, the free swimming scheme has become a crucial part of how local government pays for its leisure services, because of the unsustainable cuts that have taken place in funding. Now, free swimming funding in Anglesey, for example, is cut in half by the decision to revise and, quite simply, the council won’t be able to afford to fill that gap of £30,000—some 20,000 people per annum take advantage of this, and that figure will go down.
First, we must have a commitment of real additional funding for councils next year, but, on the specific issue, given the preventative value of free swimming in improving health today, tackling obesity today, in order to prevent ill health and to save money for the NHS tomorrow, will the First Minister admit that revising this programme and cutting the budget so much is sure to lead to a reduction in the number of users and is contrary to the principles of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015?