Free Swims Axed

[snowdropz]

so now they are removing the free swims.. what a total and utter disgrace...

I simply can not believe that this is being implemented.

Swimming is a healthy activity that both young and old can enjoy!

it was a stupid waste of money imo

I disagree - it is an important life skill - and this will put off young and old from taking part in a healthy activity.

The cuts have to come somewhere, there are bound to be some we don't approve - this one affects my dcs and we are on a limited budget but hey ho - better this than some front-line service instead.

well it wont as most peopel will pay
paying for people who can easily pay is silly
paying for poor peopel is a good idea.
they should bin child benefit for m.c too

I totally agree with DinahRod. Yes it'd be lovely if we could have free swimming and all kinds of other nice little benefits but this country has shedloads of debt and cuts have to be made quickly.

Didn't get them in my neck of the woods anyway.

Dont get them here (under 4's free) but we do have a very good value monthly rate for swimming and the gym, family membership is £23.10 a month. Covers all 5 of us and includes swimming lessons for the kids.

We are in Scotland though, so probably a lot different.

Don't get free swims here but swimming is very popular so having to pay doesn't put people off swimming.

Can't believe they were actually running this scheme anyway, what a complete waste of money when a country is deep in debt.

Money for being pregnant,free computers,free swimming ....you know somethings in life you just have to pay for yourself, they're not actually a necessity. People think they're entitled to far too much.

No free swimming here anyway.

I don't like swimming much. DD loves it. I pay to take her to lessons. I rarely take her swimming myself. Even if it was free I still wouldn't go any mre frequently.

snowdropz - reckon the country is currently so much in debt that there will have to be lots of cuts I'm afraid. Doesn;t matter who is running the country, things couldn't continue as they were.

another children's service CUT BY THE EFFING TORIES

they should cancel the olympics!

I don't mind this being cut. I would rather pay for my children to swim in a less crowded pool.

As a fully paid up member of my local sports centre (swimming and gym) I object to not being able to swim at certain times due to the wealthy over 60s swimming for free and being given exclusive pool time. (would not mind less well off pensioners having free swims but most of the pensioners in my area are loaded)

was free for under 16s though wasn't it?

unless they bring back school swimming for more that a couple of terms it's an imperative life skill that should be subsidised or free.

how can we have such a wide divide between the rich and poor in this country and yet things designed to help children arecut straight away?

It was daft, some councils had it some didn't.

And people on benefits already get free or discounted swimming/gym in council pools anyway.

But there are plenty of people not on benefits who would find it too expensive. And if they had to pay for public transport to get to a pool as well, then it'll now be twice as expensive.

My kids used to go swimming from school once a week for the whole of KS2 a few years ago; now it's only for 1 year (afaik). I'd really like to see figures for how much this has actually cost, council by council.

This is definitely a decision that should be taken by local councils, not the central government.

If local people want free swimming for all, then let them vote for it and pay more council tax.

If they want pay as you use swimming (which I personally favour) and lower council tax, then let them vote for that.

It has nothing to do with Westminster.

Power should be pushed down to the people.

I would agee with longfingernails if only those who actually PAY council tax get a say, rather than those who pay nothing yet get access to all the services.
personally I would prefer it to be axed, even though my dcs would have to pay, because deep down I probably end up paying far more than I otherwise would, through my excessive, crippling council tax bill.
If I had my way, there would be far more cuts too as so much money is wasted.

Well encouraging children to see swimming as a normal part of life and do it regularly, may cost a bit in the short term but in the long run will save the NHS billions when it doesn't have to deal with the diseases caused by the obesity epidemic. It also cuts down the criminal justice and social services budgets as there is loads of evidence that young people involved in sport, are less likely to get involved in crime, drugs, teenage pregnancy, mental illness etc. - they have higher self-esteem and are more likely to finish school, get qualifications etc.

False economy. Encouraging the population to be active, is a fantastically sensible investment. But you don't see returns on it for at least 20 years, so too short term for most governments to be interested in. The labour govt didn't give all this stuff away just because it wanted to be nice to us all; it gave the stuff away as part of a long term strategy of trying to give poor people other activity options than playstations and getting drunk, which would be in society's interest and the interests of the individuals themselves.

FFS why should it be free? I've never not paid for lessons/swim sessions.

"Total and utter disgrace"? I think not.

If those who took part in the scheme would have been willing to pay anyway, then the scheme is a shameful waste of public money.