The Ladies’ Pond accessible shower, held together for so long with duct tape.
| A significant part of the KLPA’s campaign against the new charging regime at the ponds, and objections to the current on-line booking system, has been about access and inclusivity. We believe that the increased and enforced charges are excluding many regular pond swimmers, who had come to regard the Ladies’ Pond as a place of sanctuary. Since the City of London started to plan for re-opening of the ponds, from May 2020, we have been asking Heath Management for a copy of an updated Equality Impact Assessment. This is a legal requirement and should have been produced at the start of the planning process. For weeks we received delaying responses stating that they were very busy and were “working on it” but just over three weeks ago we were informed that Heath Management now believe that a full assessment is not necessary. The City of London is a public body with a Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), which includes a responsibility to eliminate discrimination and advance equality of opportunity. The new booking arrangements at the Ladies’ Pond risk excluding many women with “protected characteristics” under the 2010 Equality Act. The City cannot delegate its PSED responsibilities to volunteer led groups like the KLPA. Ad hoc arrangements, such as phoning around swimmers who are known to Heath management, are also not sufficient. The booking system itself needs to be accessible and transparent. We asked the City of London to publicise more widely the phone number for swimmers who cannot access on-line bookings, to improve accessibility. They did not reply to this repeated request. Since the ponds and Lido re-opened on 11 July 2020 the swimming slots available have increased to 15,000 per week (over 2,000 per day). According to the City’s own figures, during this time, they have only managed to help book about 100 swim sessions over the phone. This is a tiny proportion of the overall lucrative sale of swim sessions. The phone number has however become more widely known. It is only intended for swimmers who cannot access online bookings, and should not be abused by others. It will only be answered from 9-11am each day, with the facility to leave messages: 020 7332 3779 If you know any swimmers who might have difficulty with the online booking system, please let them know about this number so that they can make their own bookings independently. |