The strategy, backed by funding of £235m (£10m more than announced in December), signifies the biggest ever policy commitment and investment in children’s play that England has ever seen.

The strategy promotes an ethos which is at the heart of Play England’s messages: it will say that government wants ‘a variety of places for play, free of charge, supervised and unsupervised, in every residential area … and children and young people to have a clear stake in public space – their play to be accepted by their neighbours’.

The investment, over three years, will benefit 3,500 play areas and 30 new, staffed adventure playgrounds across the country. This will be accompanied by a range of other measures, all to be pioneered by a wave of 30 Play Pathfinders – local authorities awarded funding to develop new provision and embed child-friendly space within the plans and frameworks for their communities.

 Among the proposals announced today will be:

• A new play indicator in the National Indicator Set for local authorities * (see further info below)

   

• Statutory guidance for Children’s Trusts and Directors of Children’s Services setting out their role as champions of children’s environmental well-being

   

• Guidance for planners on play within housing and open space developments

   

The Fair Play consultation will be announced in a joint written ministerial statement, by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport at a major government conference for Directors of Children’s services later today.

The strategy will aim for ‘children, young people and their families to take an active role in the development of local play spaces; and that play places are attractive, welcoming, engaging and accessible for all local children and young people, including disabled children, children of both genders, and children from minority groups in the community’.

See link to the consultation document: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/fairplay/

See link to the identified Ply Pathfinders and Play Builders: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2008_0067

The national indicator for play will be measured using data collected through the TellUs survey, which asks a sample of children in years 6,8 and 10 their views on the parks and play areas in their local area. The indicator will be introduced in 2009-10, subject to technical consultation.

www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/finalnationalindicators
 
Adrian Voce, Director of Play
England said: ‘The challenge of opening up public space for play is huge. It needs a bold vision and the play strategy rises to this challenge. The proposed steps should put children at the heart of their communities – not rhetorically, but physically, out playing where they belong.

‘In so doing, the government has finally come good on the full scope of Every Child Matters, recognising that children’s enjoyment of play and their freedom and safety as stakeholders in public space is as important as any outcome.

'What is needed now is cross-party support for a sustained commitment to the measures proposed and a positive response from local government – led by Children’s Services but with a coordinated effort from environment, planning, housing, traffic and open space departments. The proposed strategy is a massive step towards
England again becoming a more child-friendly country. For it and the funding to have the impact they need, local authorities must now make play the priority that it has always been for children.’