Though Cowards Flinch

The coalition government has announced:

With the unprecedented levels of debt facing the country we have regrettably had to take the difficult decision to end the Free Swimming Programme.

The summary evaluation report published today shows the programme was not providing best value for money, so we could not justify continuing to fund it.

This is bullshit.

First, it is not in the gift of government to end free swimming (for over 60s and 16 and unders).  It is for local councils to decide whether or not they will continue to offer free swimming after the end of the government grant.  Labour-controlled Wigan MBC for example, already provided free swimming before a government grant was made available.  The wording here is designed to make it easier for Tory/LibDem councils to stop the programme, inclusive of any financial contribution they make to it.

Second, at no point does the evaluation by Price Waterhouse Coopers, of the first (and now only) year of government funding say that ‘best value for money is not being provided’.  Of course the evaluation recommends improvements to the scheme in terms of marketing and design, but it is also clear that the main purpose of the scheme is being achieved:

The findings from the latest online survey showed positive changes in the level of physical activity undertaken by those who had participated in free swimming: amongst those free swimmers aged 60 and over, the proportion of respondents who undertook at least 30 minutes of activity a day increased from 66.2% before the start of the FSP to 78.4% since the FSP was introduced whilst amongst those aged 16 and under, the proportion of free swimmers undertaking more than 60 minutes of physical activities increased from 20.7% to 32.9%.

Third,  the full evaluation report for the first year of funding is not published until 23 June.  This is either because the full evaluation will make clear that the programme is good value for money (there is no such measurable thing as ‘best value for money’) and is therefore being deliberately concealed for now until the news storm abates, or because the findings of an expansive evaluation by PWC have not been taken into account before the decision has been made.

In summary, this decision by the coalition government is not only stupid; it is also being ‘sold’ on the basis of outright lies about the Free Swimming Programme and its evaluation.