Falkirk Council: School pools saved from closure

A Labour proposal to stop the closures and find new ways to increase usage and generate income was backed by the Conservative and Independent groups.

The SNP’s motion – which had suggested delaying the decision for six months to allow the council to look at other options – was rejected to give more certainty to the clubs and other people using the pools.

Councillors of all parties made clear that their inboxes had been full of objections to the plans since they were first forward – with Falkirk, Graeme, Grangemouth and Larbert High pools under threat.

The meeting also heard from three young people including Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament, Tamsin Gold and Alyssa Evans and Larbert High School pupil William Lawson, who spoke about how valued the pools were by pupils.

Kieran McGuckin, a former Commonwealth medal winner and now owner of Evolution Swim School also spoke at the meeting to persuade councillors that the pools could actually generate an income for the council if things were done differently.

Speaking on behalf of several commercial groups, he told councillors that the demand for swimming lessons is now sky high since Covid and any extra pool time would be snapped up.

Suggestions he made include opening Carrongrange for two hours in the evening for swimming lessons and allowing St Mungo’s to be used for privately run lessons at the weekends.

Mr McGuckin said that those two examples alone, during term-time only, would generate nearly £43,000 – and any commercial swimming school would “bite your hand off” if offered more hours.

Labour councillor Jack Redmond, who moved his party’s proposal, said he and his colleagues had been speaking to people using the pools in recent months and he had been hugely impressed with what he had seen.

“Many of Scotland’s medals might have been won half way across the world but they were made here in Falkirk,” he said.

Euan Lowe of Scottish Swimming said he understood the financial pressure on councils but added that what needed to be considered was “the social impact on individuals and communities”.

“We are a nation with the highest drowning stats in the UK and we need pools to be open in order that we can teach youngsters and adults a vital life skill,” he said.

The SNP put forward what they said was a pragmatic amendment, saying they had listened to “a clear statement from communities that they do not want pools to close”.

SNP Council leader Cecil Meiklejohn said it was “abhorrent” that councillors were not facing up to the serious financial situation facing the council.

She said: “No-one wants to close school pools but it may be that is the ‘least worst option’.”

She added it was right to look at full-cost recovery but it was irresponsible to commit to not closing pools and said it was “political posturing”.

However, David Mackay, head of education and leisure, told members that savings have to be found somewhere and that would inevitably mean staff losses.

He said: “Our primary cost is staffing and we would have to look at reducing staff and that would result in a cost to the curriculum.”

But opposition councillors questioned the true savings that would be generated, given that some schools are due to return to council ownership soon, which means the council will get income from swimming lessons that currently goes to private companies.

When questioned on the cost of decommissioning the pools, Paul Kettrick, head of Invest Falkirk, said it could cost as much as £1m to re-purpose just one pool.

The Labour group leader, Councillor Anne Hannah, admitted that the SNP motion was not too different from the Labour proposal but added that crucially it removed “the sword of Damocles” currently hanging over the pools.

A report will return to full council in December looking at proposals for increasing usage and income of the swimming pools and reducing costs and carbon emissions.