2026 Election Candidate Answers Part 1: Swimming Pools and Leisure Facilities

Questions acknowledged, but no answers provided to date.

From Paul Steele, Glasgow Region list candidate.

First of all, let me say that the independence for Scotland party supports reform of local government to give more say to local communities. We are also in favour of direct democracy where the people of Scotland have the final say on issues, not remote politicians or lobbyists.
In terms of better leisure facilities, I would support residents of Dennistoun in fighting for this while working on a cross party basis in Holyrood to achieve devolution of powers from current local authority level to communities so that they could decide how best to manage their affairs.

No acknowledgement of questions, and no response provided.

From Audrey Dempsey, Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn constituency and Glasgow Region list candidate.

We all know the benefits of swimming. it’s one of the few activities that genuinely works for all ages, all abilities, and all incomes. Yet we’re watching facilities disappear while health problems rise. That’s backwards.
My approach is simple: protect what works and fix how it’s funded.
– Ring-fence funding for frontline facilities like pools and leisure centres so councils can’t quietly divert it elsewhere.
– Cut waste before cutting services. there is money in the system, but too much of it is tied up in bureaucracy and poor decisions.
– Open the door to partnerships with local businesses, social enterprises and community groups to co-run and maintain facilities. keeping them open without putting the full burden on taxpayers.
– Energy cost support. many pools are closing because of spiralling energy bills. We need targeted relief so viable facilities don’t shut their doors.
If we’re serious about prevention in the NHS, then keeping people active isn’t optional, it’s essential. Investing in leisure saves money long-term.

No acknowledgement of questions, and no response provided.

No acknowledgement of questions, and no response provided.

From Josephine MacLeod, Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn constituency and Glasgow Region list candidate.

Access to leisure facilities is vital for both physical and mental health. I would support a more sustainable funding model for local authorities, ensuring they have the resources to maintain and upgrade facilities like swimming pools. This includes encouraging public-private partnerships, targeted capital investment, and prioritising preventative health measures that reduce long-term NHS pressures. Communities like Dennistoun deserve accessible, well-maintained facilities that promote wellbeing. Our councils should be adequately funded and money should be set aside for maintenance of the facilities in the budget.

From Andrew John Brady, Glasgow Region list candidate.

The Scottish Family Party recognizes the importance of leisure facilities and swimming pools in supporting family life and the well-being of the nation. While our policy platform does not include a specific financing programme dedicated solely to the renewal of aging pools and leisure centers, we propose several measures that would reform how local authorities operate and how families interact with these services.
Local Government and Fiscal Responsibility: The Scottish Family Party is concerned by the significant debt currently held by Scottish councils, which totals approximately £23 billion.
To improve the financial health and accountability of local authorities like Glasgow, we propose:
Linking Spending to Accountability: We believe council spending is not currently linked closely enough with Council Tax levels, leading to a lack of accountability. We advocate for a system where the Council Leader is a well-known public figure held personally accountable for local issues through regular “town hall meetings.”
Decentralisation: We support genuine decentralisation, moving power from Holyrood to local and regional levels. This includes exploring the possibility of splitting large council areas into smaller district councils to improve community engagement and ensure that local priorities, such as leisure facilities, are managed more effectively.
Defunding “Sock Puppet” Organisations: We propose defunding a large number of government-funded charities and organisations that primarily serve to reinforce government messaging. Redirecting these funds could help restore integrity to public finances and allow for more focused investment in essential local services.
Supporting Family Access
To ensure that existing and renewed facilities are utilized to their full potential by the next generation, we propose:
Free Entry for Children: All council-run attractions, including swimming pools and museums, should provide free entry to accompanied children. This removes financial barriers for families and encourages active lifestyles.
Council Tax Discounts: We propose substantial Council Tax discounts for families with dependent children (25% per child). For a family with four or more children, this would result in paying no Council Tax at all, leaving more disposable income for families to invest in their own health and local community activities.
The Scottish Family Party believes that by addressing the broader issues of council debt and administrative bloat, local authorities will be better positioned to maintain and renew the infrastructure that communities rely on.

From Iris Duane, Glasgow Region list candidate.

You only have to look at Whitehill Pool for example to see there is a growing burden of repairs and maintenance on leisure facilities and pools across Scotland. In Glasgow, this means looking at the capital investment, not just chopping and changing from year to year from the Scottish Government.
What is needed to future proof Glasgow’s leisure facilities is having a commitment of multi-year funding in place for councils, so rolling programmes of strategic work can actually take place. Glasgow Life’s capital budget has been very low for the city to achieve this.
Green MSPs would like to see multi-year funding allocations on this, but also the capital budget increased to reflect the need here in Glasgow for our current leisure spaces, and future, larger projects such as the rebuilding or refurbishment of Whitehill Pool – whichever option the community wishes to see advanced.

From Vonnie Sandlan, Glasgow Central constituency and Glasgow Region list candidate.

I think we’ve got this conversation the wrong way round in Scotland. We talk a lot about pressure on the NHS, but at the same time we’re losing the very services that help keep people healthy, and which play a huge role in tackling loneliness and isolation, in the first place.
Swimming pools are a good example. They’re one of the most accessible forms of exercise for all ages and abilities, and when they close, communities really feel the loss. There’s also a basic safety point here: every child should be able to swim. I’m really pleased that Scottish Labour has committed to ensuring every P5 pupil gets the chance to learn basic swimming and water safety skills.
More broadly, I think Glasgow has been underfunded for a long time given the scale of services our city provides. Our cultural and leisure assets are used by people from well beyond the city boundaries, but the responsibility for maintaining them sits largely with the council and Glasgow Life. I’ve never thought that balance was right. Put simply, I don’t believe that Glasgow should be penalised for being a city that people across Scotland (and beyond!) rely on.
If I’m fortunate enough to be elected as your MSP for Glasgow Central, I will make the case for a more thoughtful funding settlement from the Scottish Government: one that properly reflects Glasgow’s role. Scottish Labour has committed to fair, multi-year funding for councils, giving them the stability to plan ahead. That has to include increased capital investment, so projects like Whitehill Pool don’t stall simply because the money isn’t there.
The reality is that Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life have been forced into short-term decision making because of financial pressure. Scottish Labour’s approach is to put prevention at the heart of spending, and that means sustained investment in facilities like Whitehill Pool not just stepping in when things reach crisis point. In practice, that means:
– Supporting the refurbishment of ageing pools such as Whitehill;
– Investing in energy efficiency and new technology like district heating to reduce long-term running costs to the benefit of the community;
– Giving councils the certainty they need to plan and invest properly.
On Whitehill Pool specifically, regardless of the outcome of the current assessments on whether the pool is economically viable for repair, it’s vital that the area does not lose a leisure facility altogether. I will meet with the Save Whitehill Pool campaign and work with fellow Glasgow MSPs to push for a solution that protects provision for the community.
If we are serious about improving physical health, supporting mental wellbeing, tackling social isolation and easing pressure on the NHS, then facilities like these are not optional. They are essential.

From Paul Sweeney, Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn constituency and Glasgow Region list candidate.

I’ve responded in the form of a video blog which you can find on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/zhhTGO2j-4E.

From the Glasgow Liberal Democrats, with Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn constituency, Glasgow Central constituency, and Glasgow Region list candidates.

Local councils have seen their funding cut to the bone under the SNP and leisure services have suffered as a result. We recognise the importance of properly funded leisure and sporting facilities to people’s health and wellbeing. We would ensure that councils are better funded by implementing multi-year funding deals and giving them greater powers over local taxation.
With greater certainty and local flexibility in funding, councils would have the option to prioritise improving leisure facilities.

From Ivan McKee, Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn constituency and Glasgow Region list candidate.

The SNP in government wants to ensure that access to high‑quality, local leisure facilities is treated as a priority, not an afterthought. Facilities such as swimming pools are central to building a healthier nation, offering one of the most accessible and inclusive forms of exercise for people of all ages and abilities
Nationally, we will roll out free swimming lessons for every primary school child, and we will prioritise the protection of pools, introducing a statutory consultation process with sportscotland and Scottish Swimming for every pool under threat of closure to protect pools as community assets.
I will actively back increased capital investment in swimming pools and leisure centres, recognising their value not just as sports facilities, but as preventative health infrastructure.
I am proud to support the Save Whitehill Pool campaign and the community behind it.
In previous years we managed to secure a £1million investment for the pool and we also managed to secure extended opening hours for Whitehill however sadly as we know RACC was then discovered in the pool which has meant it has had to temporarily close.
I will keep working closely with campaigners and partners to strengthen the business case for investment, and I welcome the £50,000 secured through Glasgow City Council’s SNP budget to support this work and help unlock further funding from both Scottish & UK Government and other partners. I will continue to stand firmly with local communities fighting to protect their facilities.
This summer, Glasgow will again proudly host the Commonwealth Games. We are embarking on an exciting summer of sport, backed by £40 million of new investment and we want everyone in Scotland, no matter their background, to be able to participate. We will get more children and young people interested in sport through a new Sports Taster Fund, backed by £5 million of investment and I would aim to ensure young constituents in Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn receive their share of this funding.

From Liam McLaughlan, Glasgow Region list candidate.

With an East End resident as our lead candidate for the Glasgow list, we are acutely aware of the Save the Whitehill Pool campaign and the decimation of not just pool services but leisure facilities across the city and in particular in the East End.
Our councils have borne the brunt of austerity since 2010. Austerity emanating from Westminster but meekly passed on by Holyrood and devolved to local authorities to administer.
A radical rethink of how our local government services are funded and provided is a key plank of the SSP manifesto for these elections. If elected, our MSPs would seek at the earliest available opportunity to bring forward a Member’s Bill to abolish the council tax, replacing it instead with our income-based alternative, the Scottish Service Tax (SST). Both to address the inherent inequalities within the grossly unfair council tax and to provide councils with much needed funding to provide services which so many rely on.
Our costings have shown that the SST would have meant last year’s tax funding for local government would be doubled from £2.7billion to £5.3billion.
As a concrete example of the wealth redistribution within the SST, those with earnings of £15,000 would pay £135 in SST for the year while those inside Holyrood on the MSP salary of £75,000 would pay £6,710.
The 1.8million adults earning less than £12,000 would pay ZERO.
Our councils are at the sharp end of service delivery for so many key services – leisure included – and without fundamental change in funding we cannot begin to finance an improvement in our existing services, let alone restore those lost since 2010.

No acknowledgement of questions, and no response provided.

From Catherine McKernan, Glasgow Region list candidate.

I have been an active supporter of the Save Whitehill Pool campaign, and I want to be direct: the closure of Whitehill Pool on 1 December 2023, following the discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in the roof, was a political choice, not a financial inevitability. After decades of deliberate underfunding and deferred maintenance by Glasgow Life, our community has lost Whitehill Pool, Alexandra Park Hub, and Bluevale Community Hall in quick succession. The community has been stripped of its public health infrastructure, while we are simultaneously told that physical and mental health are national priorities.
The Save Whitehill Pool campaign’s own business case estimates a new-build facility at £30–£35 million. The roof alone requires approximately £5.8 million in repairs, with broader upgrades pushing costs to £18–£22 million. This figure does not include Whitehill Secondary School, which shares heating infrastructure with the pool and sits under a PFI contract until 2030. SNP Councillor Allan Casey has already called for a full rebuild. Parliament must respond with the resources to make that happen.
If elected to the Glasgow Region list, I will:
– Establish a ring-fenced capital fund for leisure infrastructure renewal, in Dennistoun and also targeted at other resource-starved urban communities where private facilities are not a viable alternative.
– Introduce community asset transfer legislation with real teeth, providing genuine, properly resourced pathways for community groups to take over and run facilities like Whitehill, rather than watching them fall derelict.
– Mandate that swimming provision is treated as a public health necessity, not a commercial amenity, with adequate funding secured through Glasgow Life’s settlement from the Scottish Government.
– Demand the reversal of the temporary reallocation of Whitehill’s £500,000 annual revenue budget, and ensure those funds are returned to secure the site’s future.
– Prevent Glasgow City Council from balancing its budget on the backs of our communities by cutting leisure services.
The Save Whitehill Pool campaign has done exceptional work developing its business case and options appraisal. Parliament should be amplifying that work, not ignoring it. My candidacy is a direct pledge to take this fight from the streets of Dennistoun to Holyrood.

From Elspeth Lynn Kerr, Glasgow Region list candidate.

Thank you for your question about funding for local facilities, including swimming pools. Many people have expressed concern about the pressures facing community services, and I share the view that strong, well-resourced local facilities are essential for children, families and wider community wellbeing.
I know and understand that when facilities such as leisure centres and swimming pools are properly funded, they contribute to improved health outcomes and increased social connection in communities. Living in an area where the facilities have been under threat, closed or are inaccessible due to cost, I will always fight for them.
Having been a local councillor I have concerns about the challenges created when services are delivered through arm’s-length external organisations (ALEOs), as this can limit the ability of the council to directly manage or protect facilities. For that reason, I have previously called for clearer oversight and stronger accountability arrangements between local authorities and national government. I have also previously called for the ALEOs to be taken back into council control.
I would support approaches that protect community facilities and ensure they remain accessible, sustainable and responsive to local needs.
I would also call for more funding for local authorities.

From Craig Houston, Glasgow Region list candidate.

As a volunteer youth football coach of 18 years, I am appalled by the lack of available venues for all sporting activities. Most are arms length council owned, we must identify if this is the most efficient way to operate Scotlands publicly owned venues. It may be possible to put more money into the venues by running the whole management of them more efficiently. We must also make communities more aware of the possibilities available to them with regards to taking ownership of venues themselves. This can work well for communities.