Bradford youths left without swim sessions for a year

The swim sessions were halted temporarily in summer 2022

Young people in Bradford missing out on swimming sessions which were cancelled more than a year ago have been treated "very poorly", it has been claimed.

Sessions which allow young people to swim without an adult ended in summer 2022, after incidents of anti-social behaviour at Eccleshill Pool.

The move was said to be temporary, but the sessions have yet to be restored.

Councillor Brandan Stubbs said there was "no reason in the world" why the issue could not have been sorted yet.

At a meeting of Bradford Council he also questioned claims the council viewed restoring the sessions as a "high priority."

Council bosses told Mr Stubbs an IT issue was preventing the sessions from re-starting, when he raised the issue in July.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said Mr Stubbs had been told the issue should be resolved in time to allow sessions to resume over summer.

Staff at the facility had been "treated badly", councillor Sarah Ferriby said

However, at a recent council meeting Mr Stubbs, who is also leader of the Liberal Democrats in Bradford, raised the issue again, pointing out there had still been no movement.

He said: "You assured me that you do not want the young people of Eccleshill to miss out on swimming.

"We are now more than three months on from that meeting and still the promised Swim for All sessions have not been restored."

He said parents and young people were concerned the matter was not being treated with "the upmost urgency".

"Our young people have been treated very poorly by the Council and this must be resolved now", he added.

'Let down by suppliers'

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council's portfolio holder for healthy people and places, said staff and customers at Eccleshill Pool had been treated "very badly" by some unaccompanied young people at the pool.

"Our staff have the right to work safely, and customers need to feel safe too," she said.

Councillor Ferriby explained "many things" had since been put in place, including training, new procedures, the introduction of new body cameras, and new CCTV.

However, she pointed out there were "still one or two issues outstanding", including an online booking system which had been "let down by system suppliers".

"The reintroduction of swim for all is a high priority. We will provide a date as soon as possible." she added.