To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department plans to allocate to local authorities for the free swimming programme in each of the next five years. (289245)

£140 million has been allocated to local authorities to support the free swimming programme over the next two years; discussions will take place to decide funding of the free swimming programme beyond 2011.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what criteria his Department uses to determine the amount of funding awarded to each local authority for the free swimming programme. (289247)

The funding for the free swimming programme for those aged 60 or over and 16 or under has been provided according to a formula based on the size of the local populations of those age groups in those local authorities who choose to opt into the scheme.

The capital reward funding for modernising pool provision payments was based on the total local population, using the latest mid-2006 census statistics.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many local authorities have opted into his Department's free swimming initiative. (289248)

259 local authorities in England have opted into the free swimming programme for those aged 60 and over; 190 local authorities in England have agreed to take part in both the aged 60 and over and 16 and under elements of the free swimming programme.