4. How is the Welsh Government working with partners to improve opportunities for accessible play across Wales? OAQ(5)0096(CC)

I thank Vikki Howells for her question. We are the first nation to put play on a statutory footing. We require our local authorities, working with partners, to secure, where practicable, play opportunities that meet the needs of all children and young people in their areas. We also provide funding to support this aim.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your response. Sense, the national charity for those with sensory impairment, has found that 92 per cent of parents with disabled children feel their children do not have the same opportunities to play as their non-disabled peers. Current guidelines, as you so rightly say, state that local authorities must have due regard to making play accessible. I’ve seen good evidence of this in my own area from Rhondda Cynon Taf council, but how does the Welsh Government work with other providers of play areas, such as private housing developments or community councils, to ensure that they also make play areas as accessible as possible?

I think the Member is absolutely right to raise this issue and she champions the cause of disabled children at every opportunity she has. My officials work across policy areas to ensure that play opportunities are sympathetically and appropriately considered in policy development and delivery. On the back of the play sufficiency assessments, officials are examining how policy areas work with their partners, including local authorities, housing associations, and indeed how we operate. Town and country planners are encouraged to make good use of section 106 agreements to make links between stakeholders and partners. I will ask my colleague Lesley Griffiths also to have a look at this in terms of planning proposals and how they operate, particularly with private developers. It’s all right saying that we’ll put a park in place, but a park that’s accessible is a very different park.

Accessible play is of course very important, but using play as a therapy as well has a big contribution to make, particularly in terms of those with adverse childhood experiences. It is something that I believe we’re not sufficiently utilising, or certainly not in north Wales from my experience. So, could you tell me what plans the Welsh Government have to expand play therapy services in Wales, and also would you agree to meet with a group of practitioners in north Wales who would want to discuss their ideas about how they could play a stronger role in achieving some of the positive outcomes that we all want to see for children and young people in Wales?

I thank the Member for his question. Indeed, prior to questions today, I met with StreetGames, who told me about the work that’s going on in many communities around Wales where play is an important factor, not just about health benefits, but also about confidence and other aspects of mental health provision et cetera. There’s a huge benefit from play. We are seeking to use play as an alternative therapy—and social prescribing. I’m interested in the Member’s local connection in terms of the group that he talks about. If the Member would like to write to me with details, I’ll give that some consideration.

Cabinet Secretary, it’s often said that play is the work of children, but, in deprived areas, many children just do not have access to safe playing areas. A generation or so ago, they would often have played on the street. Even that is now not an option. And, you’re right—the Welsh Government has a really good record in this area. But I think one weakness is perhaps that it hasn’t got to the planning stage where we look at the provision of play areas, and particularly in those deprived areas, and, where they’re absent, we plan for them. There are ways of doing this, but they require innovation and determination.

I agree with the Member, and, as I said to Vikki Howells, I will be seeking a conversation with the Minister responsible for planning to see how we can have a holistic approach to development and estate and look at that for the future.

The Government’s focus on play is welcome. We now have a fairly weighty Government document on this. This document is geared up for schools, nurseries, social workers and local authorities. Surely, a major problem though is that so many parents are sedentary or even obese that we have to persuade them to get out of the house to the local park to play with their kids. So, I wondered what we can do to encourage this aspect.

Well, it’s all our job. Governments can do many things, but telling people to get out on their bike is one thing I’m certainly not about to do. One of the innovations of last year—and some people were highly critical of it—was the Pokémon Go app that was used on many phones. I know many kids didn’t look up from their phones and banged into walls et cetera, but it got people out and about. That was a really clever innovation about getting people back into their communities. So, there are programmes out there that we seek to do. Ken Skates is a champion of these proposals, and I have regular conversations with him about how we can get more people active in our communities.