Play sufficiency summary
Children have a fundamental right to be able to play; it is central to their enjoyment of life and can contribute to their well-being. Play is essential for the growth in children’s cognitive, physical, social and emotional development.
There is evidence that an increasing understanding of play’s contribution not only to children’s lives, but also to the well-being of their families and the wider community.
Section 11, Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 places a duty on Local Authorities to assess the play opportunities for children in their areas every 3 years and to create an action plan to address areas of weakness found by the assessment.
The Play Sufficiency assessment is spilt into nine matters and below is a summary conclusion
Conclusion
This section should identify the key priorities for the Local Authorities in accordance with the regulations and described in the Statutory Guidance.
Matter A: Population
The 2011 Census is still the most appropriate data source, as in 2016.
Matter B: Providing for Diverse Needs
The Local Authority’s approach to play is to promote inclusivity for all and therefore those with a specific need by virtue of a disability, culture, language, sexual orientation or any other reason will be supported to participate within existing play settings as much as possible, rather than being segregated through different provision.
However, it is recognised that specific groups may have particular requirements for which specific provision is needed. The Assessment has therefore considered the location of provision specifically for disabled children and it is evident that, whilst provision is available, the geographical coverage of provision is varied. Community transport is, however, available to assist.
Through the Open Space Audit undertaken as part of the Local Development Plan evidence base, the LA has a clear indication of the open spaces available to those living in rural areas and through child survey the barriers facing children in these areas have been identified, although there it would be beneficial to undertake further survey work in some communities.
There are few areas that would be classified as ‘isolated.’ There are small numbers of specific ethnic groups in the County Borough. No specific demand has been identified as yet for culturally specific play provision and the lack of culturally specific provision has not been identified as a barrier to play. However, more consultations around this area will need to take place.
With regards to Welsh language, an assessment of provision across the County Borough clearly indicates that there is only a limited supervised provision in certain areas for certain age groups, and much of this provision is linked to Welsh Medium schools (breakfast and after school clubs). However, it has been the case, particularly in the north of the County Borough, that Welsh Medium childcare provision has been found to be unsustainable and therefore it is important that any future Welsh medium play provision is based on demand. The Local Authority will therefore continue to work with Welsh language groups such as Menter Iaith and Mudiad Meithrin to determine through further consultation with children and parents where there would be a demand for increased facilities and to encourage the provision of these facilities where appropriate.
Matter C: Space available for children to play: Open Spaces and Outdoor unstaffed designated play spaces
A comprehensive Open Space Assessment has been carried out in accordance with the typologies of Open Space set out within TAN 16, although no specific assessment has been undertaken in respect of those typologies included within the Play Sufficiency Statutory Guidance that are additional to those included in TAN 16, namely brownfield sites and residential streets. This data has been used, in accordance with local standards for open space provision, to identify which areas may have an insufficient overall amount of open space that is useable for play when assessed against these local standards. The results of this assessment have indicated that there are a small number of wards which fall below the children’s play space standards. However, where there are apparent deficiencies purely in quantitative terms, consideration has also been given to other factors, including play space provision in adjoining wards.
The quantity of playgrounds and of all designated play spaces have been calculated and assessed against local standards based on both the area of facilities (FIT standard per 1000 population) and the actual number of facilities per child population, as well as considering against known future provision e.g., through Section 106 agreements and provision is neighbouring wards. A few wards have been identified as having insufficient provision.
The assessment also considers the usability of the space as well as accessibility based on the minimum distances to travel standards by age group, its recreational and visual amenity and its condition. Areas that fall below minimum distance standards have been identified.
Whilst this provides a baseline of the value of each open space and designated space, a full play value assessment has not been carried out and there would be benefit in undertaking a more detailed assessment of play value, specifically in relation to designated spaces to inform future reviews of the Play Sufficiency Assessment.
Matter D: Supervised provision
The local authority keeps an up-to-date record of all supervised play provisions that occur within the County Borough. The majority of these are published on the Council’s various websites. However, this data does not include information on the capacity or general size of groups, nor if there is a waiting list. This is an area that needs to be developed further.
Analysis of current provision indicates that there is a good distribution of supervised play across the County Borough and there are a number of free to attend or low-cost groups in some areas. In addition, there is provision in some areas for different needs such as disability and Welsh Medium although shortfalls have been identified in some areas. Assessment Toolkit 81 Play Sufficiency Assessment Toolkit – Part 2
CCBC and its play partners seek to provide a provision that offers a rich environment given the number of different play opportunities on offer, and many of the provisions available are CIW accredited. CCBC also has its own Quality Standard through which play schemes will aspire to be accredited towards. The analysis of supervised play provision indicates that there is a wide and rich variety of play opportunities available for children of all ages to participate in within their individual wards.
The sports development strategy, arts and cultural development groups, the leisure and tourism teams all help to highlight the variety of play provisions on offer around the borough and SHEP is delivered in schools free of charge to families in disadvantaged areas during the school holidays to support play, sports and nutrition.
Matter E: Charges for play provision
There is a good provision of free and low-cost provisions for children within most wards in the County Borough. Children and young people benefit from Families First funding and many wards have a provision of free play sessions for young children to attend. Older children benefit from Youth Service run youth clubs as well as some voluntary sector run clubs. Youth Service Projects funded by Families First, Legacy and Safer Communities Funding also enable free youth activities to be delivered on an outreach basis to young people in their communities. This means that those areas where there are lower income families are able to receive free play provisions.
However, the location of these provisions may mean that young children have to use public transport to gain access to free provisions. Currently, public transport costs are around half price for a child, however this is not a subsidised fare but that set by the various transport operators. Availability of further subsidised travel may lead to an increase in the uptake of play events.
Matter F: Access to space/provision
To ensure that collaborative working is taking place, the regional transport plan also helps inform LDPs. Within CCBC, the adopted LDP helps inform upcoming proposals and looks to improve key transport routes, for all types of vehicles and pedestrians. The LDP also seeks to further imbed cycle routes as part of the greater transport network. The addition of more frequent train services will help increase access to play provisions in Caerphilly.
The Local Authority has invested in a large number of traffic calming schemes, and 20 mph zones and limits have ensured that the County Borough’s roads are safer for children, particularly around schools. Whilst the parent and child surveys do indicate that the public perceive that more could be done, it is evident that the LA has made significant progress in improving road safety already and through the Speed Management Strategy, people can nominate roads that should have speed reduction measures put in place, which provides an opportunity to tackle the barriers to play in respect of road safety where appropriate. There is also an extensive road safety education programme in place.
The Council encourages walking and cycling schemes within its Healthy Schools and the Active Travel Plan. In addition, schools also help to educate young children in using the streets safely, and grants are available to help fund this.
Whilst information is available on the Council website in respect of temporary road closures, this is aimed at special event and improvements to the website information will be taken forward.
Information, publicity, events
Information about play facilities and groups is readily available on websites of the council and its play partners. The websites have all been designed for ease of use, and to allow children and parents to see what provisions are available to them.
All materials produced by the Council and its play partners are aimed at their target audience and are available upon request in a variety of different mediums.
Matter G: Securing and developing the play workforce
Play and play work is integrated into the work carried out by CCBC’s Early years. To ensure we support the workforce in achieving nationally recognised qualifications and accessing CPD opportunities, we capture information through our FIS and through our Early Years Workforce Development Training Website around the size and structure of the workforce. We have a team of Childcare Officers who support out of school club settings who can advise on what is available and support the setting to ensure they are meeting the National Minimum Standards.
Matter H: Community engagement and participation
Through the various schemes and programmes run by the Local Authority, a number of consultations take place regularly to help gauge how successful various schemes have been, or if there are any gaps in provision. Children and young people are actively encouraged to engage in opportunities to promote play and there are a number of good practice examples across the County Borough of where this is succeeding.
Matter I: Play within all relevant policy and implementation agendas
It is recognised that play is a cross cutting policy agenda that can be influenced by a number of policy areas and an assessment of the many policies and strategies produced by the Council indicates that whilst play is often not directly referenced, the overall aims of many strategies e.g., traffic reduction, increased number of childcare providers adhering to local standards, community safety etc. will all indirectly improve play provision in Caerphilly.
There is evidence of good practice in schools with regards to play opportunities, but there is scope to expand the existing programmes that are successfully being implemented as well as looking to increase the use of playgrounds out of school hours as these are valuable play spaces.
The protection of valuable areas of open space and delivery of new open space and fixed facilities where new development generates a demand are both important elements of the LDP and the shared evidence base on Open Spaces between the Play Sufficiency Assessment and the LDP is critical in ensuring that the information remains up to date.
Way forward
The Action Plan highlights that whilst provision of Play is wide and varied, more work needs to be undertaken to assess the quality of provisions that are available. This work will undoubtedly have funding consequences on the teams that need to implement wider research or analysis.
Without appropriate funding from the Government, it is uncertain how these actions can be implemented.
In order to build upon the strong networks created by the Play Sufficiency Working Group, regular meetings will continue to take place to discuss and update colleagues on progress that is being made with the project.