The support will be delivered by Play England as part of its reduced contract. The charity had previously delivered support to every local authority as part of the previous government’s £235m strategy to build 3,500 play areas across England. But since coming to power, the coalition has removed the ringfence from money earmarked for playgrounds and begun clawing back funds that have not been spent.

Play England will now focus on supporting the original 20 pathfinder local authorities that were given capital funding for play.

"We want to create a situation where local people are maintaining play spaces and running neighbourhood schemes," said Play England director Adrian Voce.