We have been informed that the legal case against the City of London Corporation, challenging the new charging regime at the bathing ponds, has been granted permission to proceed. Individual claimant Christina Efthimiou, supported by the KLPA, has claimed that these charges amount to indirect disability discrimination and a failure to make reasonable adjustments, in breach of the Equality Act 2010.
This granting of permission means that the High Court has agreed that there is an arguable case. Until now the City of London Corporation has been dismissive of the concerns raised by the Heath swimmers’ associations about exclusion at the bathing ponds, so this decision is encouraging. We thank the legal team at Leigh Day for their diligent work on this case.
The KLPA and the other swimmers’ associations sought from early 2020 to work with the City of London Corporation to increase income at the bathing ponds without excluding those who cannot afford to pay. This approach was rejected in March 2020, but the swimmers’ associations have continued to offer to work with the City to address the shortcomings of their new arrangements. The City could still work with us constructively.
In the meantime we do still need to fund raise to support the cost of this challenge and potential adverse costs – PLEASE DONATE HERE
Today’s press coverage of this legal challenge can be seen here (Guardian 10 August 2021).
Thank you to everyone who has supported the fund raising so far, please encourage your friends and family to donate if possible.