Pupils need to learn to swim before cuts says Tory

Budget cuts will affect the £2m contract the council has with one leisure firm

Children need to learn to swim by the end of this summer term, a Conservative councillor has claimed.

It comes ahead of cuts to school swimming lessons in Powys which could take effect from September.

However, another councillor called his words “unhelpful scaremongering”.

It is the result of a change in the £2m contract between Powys council and Freedom Leisure, which runs a number of pools across the borough.

The cut of about 8.5% - just over £177,000 - could come as part of the council's attempt to balance its 2024/2025 budget.

The authority needs to make £10.652m in cuts, savings and generated income by the end of March next year.

Speaking at a scrutiny committee meeting, councillor Aled Davies said: “I have real fears about this as there are so many unknowns.

“I would encourage all children to learn to swim by July and the end of the school term as we don’t know what’s going to happen after the summer.”

But Liberal Democrat councillor Pete Roberts said Mr Davies’s comments were “flippant” and “unhelpful scaremongering”.

'We’re really unclear what’s being proposed'

He also wanted to “assure parents” it would not be like that.

Committee chairman Gwynfor Thomas, a Conservative, said he sensed a “great deal” of discomfort about the proposal.

“I’m really disappointed by this," he added.

"We’re really unclear what’s being proposed, how it’s going to be achieved and the outcome for the child.”

But interim head of community services Jenny Ashton said details of the cut still needed to be “work through and agreed” with schools.

Freedom Leisure, which was awarded a 15-year council contract in 2015 to run its pools and sports centres, also needed to “come up with options” to help achieve the savings target, she added.