Swimming lessons for school pupils will be cheaper this year after Westminster Council switched contractors.

Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) will charge �5 for parent and baby sessions – �7 cheaper than before – and one-to-one lessons for adults and juniors have dropped from �40 to �30.

The cost of lessons for juniors is being frozen at 2012 prices, and while adult lessons will increase by �1.20, but they are being made a third longer making them cheaper per minute.

Lessons will be provided by the Better Swim School, which follows the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) national teaching plan, and will link with Westminster’s swimming clubs.

All existing customers and swimming teachers who took part in lessons run by Swim Nature, Westminster’s previous contractor, will be able to transfer to the Better Swim School.

Cllr Steve Summers, Westminster Council’s lead member for sport and leisure, said cheaper rates did not mean a drop in quality, but “quite the opposite” as “the programme of lessons is being brought in-line with ASA’s teaching plan.”