Free swimming for youngsters and older residents looks set to disappear across the county after national cuts hit local councils hard.
Only Barking & Dagenham Council have come out in support of keeping the initiative as Southend and Castle Point look set to scrap the scheme after failing to find funds to replace the lost central government funding.
In last month’s Budget the coalition government announced sweeping cuts including cutting funding for the ‘Free Swimming’ initiative aimed at giving under-16s and the over-60s free access to swimming pools across the country.
The Free Swimming Initiative had been introduced by the Labour government last year and was implemented by many councils across Essex including Barking & Dagenham, Castle Point and Southend.
In last month’s Budget new Chancellor George Osborne revealed that funding for this would be cut leaving local council’s needing to subsidise the initiative themselves.
This week Barking & Dagenham made a promise to keep the scheme on until at least March of next year but the news does not look as rosy for other councils who look set to scrap it when funding is retracted at the end of the month.
Southend Council, which had been a popular venue for free swimming with pools in Belfairs and Warrior Square, has decided to scrap the scheme and look set to vote through the proposal at full council tonight.
Leader of the Council, Nigel Holdcroft, said: ““We are fully aware that these cuts will have a real effect on people across Southend, but we have been left with no choice.
“This is a particularly challenging time for the Council, which has been working extremely hard to minimise the impact on frontline services.
“We already know we face extremely difficult decisions in the future given the Coalition’s announcement about cuts of up to 40 per cent in public sector spending.”
Castle Point Council, who were criticised for levying a £2 cost on a ‘free swimming’ card when the scheme was introduced, will be debating the free swimming initiative at Cabinet next week.
Barking and Dagenham Council will continue to provide free swimming for the over 60s although swimming for under-19s could be cut if funding cannot be secured by the end of the summer.
Free swimming for the over-60s will continue thanks to funding from NHS Barking and Dagenham at least until the end of March next year.
One twist will be that because of the government cuts, non-residents of the borough of all ages will have to pay for their swimming in local leisure centres in Barking and Dagenham after 1 August.
Cllr Bert Collins, Cabinet Member for Culture and Sport, said: “We are very disappointed that the government has stopped funding this important initiative, which provides great health benefits for younger and older people alike in the borough.
“But in the short term, thanks to support from the local NHS we can still keep free swimming for the over 60s going at least until March next year - which is great news for senior citizens in our borough.
“And I am delighted that despite the financial pressures we now face as a council, that local children and teenagers will also still be able to swim for free during the busy summer holiday period and we will do our utmost to secure funding to continue it after that.
“Free swimming has been a fantastically successful and important initiative. We are determined that it won’t go off the deep end in Barking and Dagenham just because at the stroke of a pen, Ministers decide to stop funding it.”