§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what surveys he has recently conducted via local education authorities of the percentage of pupils receiving swimming instruction; what assessment he has made of any change there has been in that percentage over the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe Department carried out two surveys at the end of 1991 to inform decisions on the feasibility of making swimming a statutory requirement of national curriculum physical education. One was to determine the number of schools with swimming pools; the other to find out how many of a representative sample of over 1,200 schools, with or without their own pools, made provision of some kind for swimming lessons. Copies of the findings of these surveys were placed in the Library. Neither, however, yielded information on the number or proportion of schools pupils receiving swimming instruction.