The future of the Southern Swimming Pool is still in discussion.

Minister for Education, Sport and Culture Julie Edge has said the a decision has not yet been reached but the department ‘will do what’s right’.

She added: ‘We are looking at this. This should’ve been reviewed by previous department officers but it hasn’t, so it’s difficult to stand up to say what is going to happen.’

An urgent question was tabled for the Tynwald sitting on Tuesday by Rushen MHK and Speaker of the House of Keys Juan Watterson, who asked if Ms Edge would make a statement on the immediate future of the pool.

Ms Edge explained the department was in ‘regular communication’ with the pool board regarding this but when asked if the pool was under no imminent threat of closure, she said ‘until a forward direction is clear’ she couldn’t comment further.

Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Tim Glover mentioned that special measures had been deferred to the department and asked if the minister would confirm this.

She said she was aware the Southern Swimming Pool is an independent board but agreements are in place for maintenance funding and additional funding provided by Treasury.

‘We need to look at doing a review of the pools and the allowances that go to the pools,’ Ms Edge added. ‘We will work with the Department of Infrastructure and will come forward with a solution as soon as possible.’

She confirmed that funding had been provided from the education budget to keep the pool running until September.

This comes after the pool’s board said it was facing financial difficulty due to the pandemic as well as maintenance and rises in fuel costs.

All three regional swimming pools in the north, south and west of the island are run by commissioners in the local areas and a subvention is paid by government to meet shortfalls in operating costs.