Penrith Swimming Club calls for answers after Council
says no decision has been made over Learn to Swim programme
Penrith Swimming Club has challenged Westmorland and Furness
Council over what it says is a major contradiction in the authority’s latest
statement about the future of its Learn to Swim programme.
The club says it was told by GLL the councils contractor for leisure services at Penrith Leisure Centre, that the Penrith Swimming Club‘s established Learn to Swim provision would have to stop — initially from 1st September 2026, with the proposed end date subsequently moved to 1st January 2027.
But now Westmorland and Furness Council has publicly stated in its statement issued by the council this week that “no decisions have been made yet.”
The council statement has left the swimming club asking a straightforward
question:
If no decision has been made, why was the club given a date by which it had to stop?
Penrith Swimming Club says that on 1st August, while the club
was on its summer break, it was informed by GLL that its Learn to Swim
provision would have to end.
At a subsequent meeting, the club says GLL told it that the
provision crossed a “red line” and that there was no room for
negotiation over its continuation.
The proposed end date was subsequently moved to 1st January
2027.
Yet in its full statement issued on Wednesday 19th August,
Westmorland and Furness Council says: “A review is underway of the Learn to
Swim programme offered by Penrith Swimming Club.”
The Council then stated that: “No decisions have been made
yet.”
“The programme is under review but no decisions have been
made. Penrith Swimming Club will be consulted throughout the review.”
For Penrith Swimming Club, the latest statement raise more
questions about what it was previously told by GLL and what the status of the
January deadline actually is now.
Penrith Swimming Club says it was not formally informed
that a review was underway and that the club has not been given the
review's terms, scope, criteria, evidence base, timetable or decision-making
process.
A Penrith Swimming Club spokesperson said:
“We welcome the Council's apology and its recognition of the
contribution Penrith Swimming Club and its volunteers have made to this
community. However, we were surprised to learn through a public statement that
a review of our provision is apparently already underway.”
The spokesperson added:
“Penrith Swimming Club has not been formally approached
about this review, we have not been given its scope, criteria or terms and we
have not been invited to agree how it will operate.”
The club has welcomed several elements of the Council's
statement issued this week that included the Council apologising for its
previous communications and explicitly stated:
“There is no suggestion of impropriety on the part of the
Swim Club or its volunteers.”
The Council also recognised that Penrith Swimming Club has
maintained the highest level of Swim England club accreditation for 10
consecutive years, requiring regular scrutiny of safeguarding, welfare,
governance, coaching and club procedures.
It also acknowledged that the absence of a formal
arrangement for the Learn to Swim programme was the result of historic
arrangements.
In the statement issued by Westmorland and Furness Council it
said:
“There is no suggestion that the absence of a formal
agreement was intentional or that the Club is at fault.”
It also confirmed that the club had been working with the
Council to formalise the arrangement since 2023.
The Council's latest position appears very different from
the message the club says it received from GLL.
Penrith Swimming Club says it was given a firm end date for
its programme.
It was subsequently told the provision had crossed a “red
line”.
The deadline was then moved to January 2027.
Now the Council says there is still a review underway, that
no decision has been made and that one of the options being considered is for both
GLL and Penrith Swimming Club to operate separate beginner Learn to Swim
programmes.
The swimming club says it welcomes that change in position —
but wants to know why the position appears to have changed.
The Penrith Swimming Club spokesperson said:
“On 1 August we were told by GLL that our provision would
end. We were subsequently told it crossed a ‘red line’. We are now being told
that no decision has been made and that a review is underway. We welcome that
change, but we need clarity about what has changed and what happens to GLL's 1
January deadline.”
The club says it is not opposed to formalising its
arrangements.
Its spokesperson said: “Our position is simple. If
arrangements need formalising, let's formalise them. There is room for GLL and
Penrith Swimming Club to coexist.”
The club says it wants to work constructively with
Westmorland and Furness Council, GLL and Swim England.
But it insists that any review concerning the future of its
Learn to Swim programme must involve the club properly from the outset.
According to the Council, the review is looking at whether
Penrith and Eden would be best served by:
The Council says Swim England will support the process.
It also says meetings are scheduled for late August and
September and that there is currently no set date for a decision.
Despite the Club having been given a date to end the provisions at Penrith
Leisure centre by the council contractors GLL and the proposed end of the Lean
to Swimm provision by Penrith Swimming Club was also given to Westmorland and
Furness Councillors in a briefing by council officers seen by Penrith.Town News.
The Council says the review forms part of a wider process of
standardising arrangements across GLL's leisure portfolio and ensuring
appropriate formal arrangements are in place.
PENRITH SWIMMING CLUB says it has delivered this type of
provision in Penrith for around 40 years.
Penrith Swimming Club says its position remains unchanged. It
wants certainty that its Learn to Swim provision can continue and that the
long-term sustainability of the club is protected.
More than 1,500 people have already signed the club's
petition, and the club says it remains grateful for the support it has
received from the community.
The club is also encouraging members, former members and
supporters to attend the public meeting of Penrith Town Council on Monday 24th
August 6pm at Unit 2, 19–24 Friargate, Penrith when the situation
will be discussed by town councillors.
Then select "Add to Home Screen"
