Swimming Provision and Inequality in Stockport

Swimming is not a luxury. It is a vital skill that can save a life and improve health and wellbeing.

By the time children leave primary school, the national curriculum expects them to be able to swim at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. But the latest figures I have examined from primary schools across Stockport show that too many children are leaving school without those basic skills.

What concerns me most is not simply the overall level of attainment, but the inequality in outcomes and provision across our communities. In some parts of Stockport borough, particularly in the neighbouring constituencies of Hazel Grove and Cheadle, children are overwhelmingly achieving the national standard. St Mary’s Academy and Mellor Primary School in Hazel Grove and Moss Hey Primary School in Cheadle all report 100% attainment but elsewhere in Stockport, the picture is much more mixed. The figures for the Stockport constituency show average swimming attainment of around 49% in Edgeley and 58% in Davenport and Cale Green. Reddish South averages around 63%, while Heatons South and Brinnington and Stockport Central are around 72%. Concerningly, no schools in the Stockport constituency report 100% attainment.

Our community has brilliant schools, teachers and parents; the differences in these figures are not a reflection of the ambition of our children or the dedication of school staff. However, I am concerned that not every child is being given the same opportunity to swim.

Where we have good facilities, accessible swimming lessons and sustained investment, children have a much better chance of developing these skills. That is why I am increasingly concerned about the direction of investment by Stockport Council. We have seen significant investment in facilities in some parts of the borough. The £20 million Marple Community Hub, for example, includes a new five-lane swimming pool. I welcome investment in swimming wherever it takes place across Stockport Borough. But I also believe residents in central Stockport, Reddish and other parts of my constituency deserve the same high quality services. We cannot accept a situation where some communities have access to modern or renewed swimming provision while other parts of Stockport are left with ageing facilities, reduced provision or no local baths at all.

Grand Central Swimming Pool in Stockport town centre is a fantastic community asset and it is home to the brilliant Stockport Metro Swimming Club, which continues to provide a vital pathway for young people who want to progress in the sport. Since moving to Grand Central, 14 Stockport Metro athletes have qualified for the Olympic Games and the club has produced four Olympic medallists. That is an extraordinary record, and something Stockport should be incredibly proud of. However, I am deeply concerned about the aging infrastructure at Grand Central and I have been calling for investment to upgrade and modernise the facility.

The situation in Reddish is even more frustrating. Reddish Baths closed in 2005, and the building has stood vacant ever since with Stockport Council offering no plan for its future. For generations, the baths brought the community together, gave young people the opportunity to learn a vital skill and served as a much-loved local facility. I ran a community survey asking residents what they wanted to see happen to Reddish Baths. Almost 1,000 residents responded and the message was clear: 86% put swimming or fitness facilities among their top three preferred future uses for the site.

Stockport borough has a genuine shortage of water space. Across five public facilities, the borough has a public supply of 2,648 square metres of water. Based on the recommended provision of 12 square metres per 1,000 people, Stockport would need another 990 square metres. That is a clear deficit.  

I have raised these issues directly in the House of Commons.

In March, I spoke in the Westminster Hall debate on public baths and lidos, highlighting the situation at Reddish Baths, Stockport's shortage of water provision and the need for investment in Grand Central. I also called on the Government to work constructively with Stockport Council over the future of these facilities.

In July, during my Westminster Hall debate on regeneration in Reddish, I again raised the future of Reddish Baths and the community's overwhelming desire to see the site brought back into meaningful use.

I have also written to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport asking Ministers to engage directly with Stockport Council about securing the future of Grand Central, and recently submitted a written parliamentary question asking the Department about action being taken to increase the proportion of children in England who meet the 25-metre swimming standard and to support schools where attainment is below the national average. The Government's response recognised swimming as a vital life skill and highlighted additional investment in PE and school sport, alongside plans for greater support for swimming and water safety.

Stockport Council has choices to make about where it invests and which facilities it prioritises. Every child in Stockport should have the same opportunity to learn to swim, regardless of where they live. We should be aiming for the standards already being achieved in the best-performing parts of our borough, not accepting a postcode lottery where a child's chances of learning a vital life skill depend on which side of Stockport they happen to grow up.

I will continue to make this case, both in Westminster and to Stockport Council.

Notes -

Westminster Hall Debate on Government Support for Regeneration in Reddish (1 July 2026): https://tinyurl.com/24p79cnz

BBC News - Swimming lessons 'vital' as schools gap revealed (11 August 2026) - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyq5831981o