John Denham

Welcome to the website of John Denham

John Denham has been representing Southampton Itchen in Parliament since 1992. 

He is currently Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. 

On this website you'll find news about what John's been up to in both Southampton and Westminster. 

You can get in touch with John on constituency issues by following the link below.

 

Swimming - good for all

I’m sure we all congratulate swimmer Rebecca Adlington on her two splendid Olympic golds.  There were also excellent performances by her colleagues in Team GB.  Everyone connected to the British Swimming Team believes that, in 2012, we’ll do even better thanks to the support given to swimming by the Government and the National Lottery.  Since 1997 almost £250 million of public money has been invested in swimming - more than any other sport. Over the last three years, more swimming pools have opened than closed. 

So the pools are there, we now need to make sure that people use them.  We all know that many of us need to get fitter and to take more exercise.  As part of the run up to the London Olympics in 2012, the Labour Government has announced a new £140m fund to boost sport and fitness through free swimming for over 60s and the under-16s.  It’s up to local councils (like Southampton) to choose whether or not to take part.  

The announcement marks the first stage in Labour’s aspiration for free swimming for everyone - in the same way that Labour staged the delivery of free museums (first for children in 1999, then over 60’s in 2000 and then free admission for all in 2001).   I hope that this fund will enable councils to start offering free swimming to more and more groups in their community.

In Southampton, Labour Councillors included free swimming for under-12s in this year’s council budget but it seems that our new Conservative Council plans to end this concession as part of its plans to hand our pools over to a private operator. 

Offering free swimming is just the kind of imaginative action required to make us a more active nation by 2012.   Swimming is all-round good exercise – whatever age you are. If we’re going to be a world-leading sporting nation, we need to be a fitter nation.