More than 120 public swimming pools have closed over the last decade, freedom of information (FOI) requests from GMB have revealed.
FOI responses from 350 councils found 121 council owned public swimming pools were sold or closed from the financial year 2014/2015 to today.
Kevin Brandstatter, GMB National Officer, said the cuts put young people ‘at risk of drowning.’
‘The Conservatives' grim legacy of austerity has left brutal scars right across society,’ he said.
‘But local authorities being forced to close so many swimming pools is a particularly terrifying example.
‘Learning to swim is a basic life skill, splashing in a pool is a fundamental childhood joy – two things being potentially now denied to thousands of youngsters.’
For more on leisure centres, swimming pools and public health, download your free copy of GLL: Transforming Community Health and Wellbeing today.
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