Government invest in children's play

The Government has pledged to invest £235 million over the next three years on children’s play. This will fund an extra 3,500 play areas and 30 play path finder local authorities will get £2 million each to build new adventure playgrounds.

Ed Balls and Andy Burnham also vowed to help tackle bullying and crime in play areas and other public spaces, improve road safety and work with town planners and developers to create more child friendly public spaces, ending the ‘no ball games’ culture.

The Government announced that they will have a new play indicator meaning that, for the first time, every year children and young people will be asked how satisfied they are with their local play areas and parks.

In order to improve their play facilities, all councils will get funding for play, with 30 play pathfinder authorities getting an extra £2 million for adventure playgrounds and 44 playbuilder authorities receiving an extra £1 million for play areas.

In order to create more high quality places to play, the Government proposes to:

1. invest £235 million in the next three years to develop up to 3,500 public play areas
2. support 30 local authorities to develop adventure playgrounds or play parks aimed at eight-13 year olds in disadvantaged areas (20 have been announced and a further 10 will be announced in the autumn)
3. work with councils to ensure play areas are stimulating, exciting and attractive to children – working closely to involve children, families and communities
4. drive local performance with a new national play indicator from 2009
5. develop and test volunteering opportunities to support play
6. work with planners, developers and transport officers to create neighbourhoods that meet the needs of children and families
7. boost the qualifications and skills of the workforce.

Talking about the consultation, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, said:

“The ability to play safely and independently is one of the defining characteristics of good childhood. Play is first and foremost to help children have fun – but it can also keep them happy and healthy and allow them to develop and achieve their full potential……We need exciting and stimulating places for children to play which are close to where they live and easy for them to get to. But this is not just about designated spaces – public play spaces are an essential part of any community. I want local communities and children themselves to play a key role in making public spaces more child friendly.”

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Andy Burnham, said:

“Of course it is important that children are kept safe but this does not mean we have to wrap them up in cotton wool. I want to get children outside where they can enjoy the many possibilities that play offers rather than spending all day in front of the computer.”

Government invest in children's play

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