Free swimming sessions for children in Fife could become a thing of the past, councillors have been warned.
The body set up to run sports and leisure provision across the region is under increasing pressure to balance its finances.
Wendy Watson, chief operating officer for Fife Sports and Leisure Trust, said the money currently used to provide free summer swimming at its sports centres could be better used elsewhere.
However, she said the decision whether to scrap free swimming would ultimately lie with Fife Council.
Currently, the Splash-Out-For-Nowt initiative offers anyone under 17 free summer swimming on weekdays across Fife during the school holiday.
“It’s only my professional opinion but I think the funding for free swimming provision could be better used elsewhere,” said Mrs Watson.
“I don’t think there are any parents who mind paying £1 for their child to come to the swimming pool or to play badminton for an hour.
“I think the Quid-A-Kid initiative would be a better replacement as we are not targeting the children we wouldn’t get anyway.
“For the people who are truly in poverty, free summer swimming is making no difference to them as sometimes the parents are not committed to getting them a towel, trunks or giving them the bus fair to go swimming.
“It’s nice to have but given the financial economy we are now in it really would better to have Quid-A-Kid, but that’s for Fife Council to consider.”
Mrs Watson’s comments came as she addressed the council’s scrutiny committee over a re-design of sports and leisure provision which would see further reductions in operating hours at some facilities.
The trust was praised for continuing to provide the level leisure provision in Fife despite swingeing cuts to its operating budget.
Councillor Tim Brett, convener of the environment, finance and communities scrutiny committee, praised the Trust for it’s achievements since it was set up in 2008 but added communication informing the public of changes to services could be improved.
He said: “In 2008, there were 1.8 million visits to facilities and that has increased by 40% to 2.5 million.
“That comes in a period that has seen a 61% reduction in annual service agreement from £5.6m to £2.2m.”
He also said income revenue had grown by 120% to £8.6m since the trust took over.
Mrs Watson also highlighted there had been no redundancies from the redesign despite staffing costs now being the trust’s biggest single impact on its operating budget.
However, given the financial challenges being faced, she said a redesign involving a reduction in operating hours, agreed by the council in May 2019, was the best way to sustain services given the current financial circumstances.
A pilot, to be run at Cupar leisure centre, will be then reviewed and if deemed successful will be implemented at Bowhill, East Sands Centre in St Andrews, Cupar, Cowdenbeath, Kirkcaldy and Carnegie Leisure Centre in Dunfermline in 2021.
