6. Debate on a Member's Legislative Proposal: An inclusive play Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:56 pm on 7 February 2018.

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Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 3:56, 7 February 2018

I'd be absolutely delighted to take that opportunity up because part of the challenge here is seeing what good looks like and then making sure that good appears everywhere right across the country, with partners on the ground, with every local authority. But the statutory underpinning is there; it's making sure now that that's delivered on consistently everywhere. And it will be diverse because the needs of the children are diverse as well. I happily take that invitation up.

There are clear requirements already in place, but neither we, nor others in the field, such as Play Wales, mentioned by Jane there, feel that placing an additional duty on local authorities is the best way to achieving inclusive play opportunities. But, secondly—and you would expect me to mention this—Welsh Government has provided local authorities with just short of £5 million since 2013-14 to improve accessible and inclusive play in their areas, and, in fact, we've probably seen some of the results in your local area and others as well. The play sufficiency assessments reveal that local authorities have indeed been making concerted efforts to provide accessible play opportunities. The progress reports have shown that funding has been used throughout Wales to address accessibility issues with regard to outdoor play spaces and, by the way, it is wider play spaces, not simply playgrounds, but wider play spaces as well.

Thirdly, the introduction of new legislation could—despite the reassurances that Vikki was giving in her contribution—could—and it's been observed not just by me but by others—lead to some unanticipated outcomes and could even be counter-productive. So, for example, what is accessible play for some children is actually a barrier for others. There is a risk of decisions that might result on the ground in inappropriate design or even further segregation between different children, and we wouldn't want that to happen.

However, Vikki raised a number of interesting proposals during the debate that I'm keen to consider further and take forward. So, for example, with regard to the Green Flag good practice award, while I understand the intention behind the suggestion, we'd probably need to carry out further work to see whether this could be achieved as part of the established green spaces recognition scheme, perhaps, or via another route. But I'm happy to look at that. So, for example, we might want to work with partners to gather and publish case studies that clearly set out the important key features of particular schemes and interventions across Wales.

And turning to the vital issue that Vikki raised about awareness and sharing of information and public-facing information, I completely agree that local authorities should be making information publicly available about their play sufficiency assessments, and where people can go for the appropriate play. This should include actions they propose to take to achieve sufficiency and to improve inclusive play opportunities.

So, on the back of this debate and the points that Vikki and others have made, I will ask officials to immediately take forward the suggestion so that information is made available by local authorities in a way that supports children and their families to know what's available. There might be a role, for example, for family information services, which we can explore, along with making greater use of Play Wales's 'Creating accessible playing spaces toolkit', which is a tool for providing good information for parents.

So, ultimately, Presiding Officer, enabling all children to play and to play together is about a benefit to the whole community. If any child is prevented from playing, then it diminishes the play experience of all children. So, thank you to Vikki.