Will the Minister outline what steps the Welsh Government is taking to maximise the use of playground facilities in Denbighshire?
The Welsh Government recognises the importance of maximising opportunities for play. Both the Welsh Government and the playwork sector in Wales aspire to provide inclusive play spaces, including playgrounds, where able-bodied and disabled children and young people can play together. This is supported by the Children’s Play Policy Forum and UK Play Safety Forum, who released a joint Position Statement this year supporting inclusive play.
The Welsh Government funded Play Wales, the Charity supporting children’s play, who worked with Alison John and Associates to create a toolkit for creating accessible play spaces. The toolkit is intended to support local authorities and others to meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 in terms of developing and upgrading accessible play spaces.
As part of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010, the Welsh Government legislated in support of children’s play. A statutory duty was placed on local authorities to assess and, as far as is reasonably practicable, secure sufficient opportunities for children to play. This has become known as the ‘Play Sufficiency Duty’, and local authorities are encouraged to use the creating accessible play spaces toolkit in preparing both their assessments and action plans under this duty.
Since the Play Sufficiency Duty was introduced in November 2012, we have made £41.330m revenue funding available to local authorities to enable them to meet the requirements highlighted from their assessments. Denbighshire County Borough Council’s (CBC) revenue allocation for this period was £1,337,258.
For the financial years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, we awarded Denbighshire CBC £241,139 Covid recovery capital funding. The capital funding enabled the local authority to replenish play areas including the purchase of accessible equipment and improve access to play areas. This was dependent on the priorities identified in its play sufficiency assessment (PSA). The range of funding has resulted in increased activity to secure play opportunities across Wales.
The latest full PSAs were submitted to the Welsh Government in June 2022. In its 2022-23 PSA action plan, Denbighshire CBC has stated that Stand Together for Additional Needs & Disabilities (STAND) North Wales are completing a ‘Play Spaces Audit’. Feedback from families on the accessibility of play spaces will be included in the audit. Denbighshire CBC has committed to publish this audit.