Swimming pools to get £63m in Budget

There are more than 800 leisure centres with swimming pools in England

Leisure centres with swimming pools will be given a £63m boost in Wednesday's Budget, says Sport England.

A key aim is to help facilities become low-carbon and more energy efficient.

Sport England CEO Tim Hollingsworth said the fund will be a "lifeline" for centres who have faced closures.

"Swimming pools play a vital role in our communities and are enormously important in helping people to be physically active in their daily lives," he said.

"We know how difficult the present situation is and have been working hard to ensure these providers get the support they need.

"We'll now turn our efforts to supporting the process in the weeks ahead to distribute the funding made available today to ensure it goes where it is needed the most."

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The leisure sector was set to lose out when the government scaled back its energy support scheme from April to focus on heavy energy-using sectors.

In total, £40m of the one-year fund will be for investment in long-term energy efficiency, while £23m will help local leisure centres with costs.

Figures compiled by UK Active in January showed more than 350 leisure facilities in the UK have closed temporarily or permanently or made changes to their services in the past year.

Last month a coalition of almost 200 sports governing bodies, health organisations and top athletes wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with an "urgent plea" to help struggling gyms, pools and clubs.

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