Swimming Tuition in Schools (Hansard, 9 December 1985)

§ Lord Graham of Edmonton
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, Her Majesty's Government cannot be satisfied until as many young people as possible are given the opportunity to learn to swim. However, this is a matter of the local education authorities and for the schools themselves.

§ Lord Graham of Edmonton
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that reply. Can he say what steps he has taken to confirm the information that I know he has received from the Welsh Schools Swimming Association indicating that in some schools tuition has been cut back or stopped as a result of cuts in central Government funding? Will the Minister also confirm that it is unlawful to charge for swimming tuition? Yet there are instances—about which he has been informed, as I have—of parents being asked either to pay for tuition or for transport from the school to the swimming pool. Will the Minister also acknowledge that to learn to swim at an early age is a right not to be denied to any child? Can he give some assurance that his department will take steps to emphasise to authorities that the provision of swimming is not only a right but a moral duty upon those authorities?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, I can agree wholeheartedly with the penultimate supplementary question of the noble Lord. Record amounts of money are now being spent on the education of the nation's children—16 per cent. more per pupil in real terms than in 1979. However, it is a sad fact that this is not apparent everywhere. Too many authorities are failing to take advantage of falling school rolls and the general scope that exists for efficiency savings in order to redeploy resources into areas of greater educational benefit. I would agree with the noble Lord that swimming is most certainly one.

§ Lord Molloy
My Lords, bearing in mind that the provision of all forms of swimming facilities is the responsibility of the local authority, and acknowledging that there is a grave paucity of Olympic-size swimming pools throughout the United Kingdom, will the Minister be prepared to accept a proposition from those local authorities which believe that they can make a contribution towards remedying a serious situation and have a few more Olympic-size swimming pools built in Great Britain?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, I do not regard this as a question concerning sport; I regard it as a general safety question. As a result, I do not think that the size of the pool comes into the matter. The important point is that children should be given the opportunity to learn to swim.

§ Lord Molloy
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that in Russia, in some continental countries and in the United States they start to train their Olympic stars while they are at school? That is why they do so well. Will the noble Lord make a big endeavour at least to catch up?

§ Lord Skelmersdale
No, my Lords; the Question is about swimming in schools. As I have said, although it is quite obvious that basic swimming is the foundation for a number of sports, both in the 4 international field and elsewhere, for me at least the availability of swimming in schools is a matter of safety and not of sport.

§ Lord Beloff
My Lords, I should like to ask my noble friend whether instruction in swimming is one of the matters which has been damaged by the totally uncalled for so-called industrial action by the teachers' unions.

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, the unfortunate industrial unrest among teachers has been responsible for a great number of deleterious incidents as regards children's education generally. I do not know that swimming has been particularly affected in this respect.

§ Lord Graham of Edmonton
My Lords, to follow up the normal, helpful question from the noble Lord, Lord Beloff, in which he introduced the matter of the effect of industrial action, may I ask this question? Will not the Minister agree that the purpose not only of the Question but of the representation which he has received from the Welsh Swimming Association is to point out the damage that has been done is a result of cuts by the Government in central funding? I hope that the Minister will accept that I am not pursuing this matter from the point of view of the excellence of swimmers as potential Olympic gold-medalists, although that is an aspect. I would very much welcome the Minister saying at the proper time and in a proper place that due emphasis should be given in our schools to this important activity. This difficult time has been brought about by the Government's financial priorities. The Government ought to ensure that every child at the age of nine, 10 or 11 is given the opportunity to learn to swim. The fact is that, as a result of cuts by the noble Lord's Government, children in many schools are not being given that opportunity.

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, for the reasons which I gave in answer to the noble Lord's supplementary question, I do not accept that cuts are being made in the education service in this country.

§ Lord Somers
My Lords, I should like to ask whether the teaching of swimming is regarded as part of the curriculum, and therefore must be confined to school hours.

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, my understanding of the Education Act 1944 is that when swimming is taught in school hours it automatically becomes part of the curriculum.