Outdoor play under threat from local facilities and funding cull
Gabriella Jozwiak
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
CYP Now investigation shows the extent of cuts to local play facilities, budgets and staff, as local authorities and campaigners blame a massive drop in government support over the past three years.
GRAPHIC PDF DOWNLOAD: THE OVERALL PICTURE OF PLAY FUNDING CUTS
A huge cut in spending on play facilities by councils over the past four years has led to scores of playgrounds closing and many staff losing their jobs, a CYP Now investigation can reveal.
Responses to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request submitted to all local authorities reveals nearly one in three have removed some staffed and unstaffed play provision since 2010. While councils that responded have been able to limit the number of unstaffed playground closures to 145, staffed facilities - often the most stimulating and popular for children and young people - have been decimated in many parts of the country.
In fact, the cuts have been so deep that it has led one of the country's most senior play experts to predict that all adventure playgrounds will be gone within three years.
The findings show that the cuts in facilities have been the result of a 38.9 per cent fall in councils' overall spending on play between 2010 and 2013 amounting to £26.4m among councils that responded. This has been largely driven by a halving of councils' capital budgets from £38m in 2010/11 to £18.8m in 2013/14.
Capital budgets alone have fallen by an average 69 per cent, but almost a fifth of areas reported a 90 per cent reduction.
Responses collected from 157 councils responsible for play in England - a combination of county, borough, city, town and district councils - show that on average 2.4 per cent of an area's total play provision has been lost. However, this masks huge local variations. For example, Sunderland City Council has closed 15 unstaffed playgrounds, representing about 12 per cent of its overall provision.
Other councils with large reductions in unstaffed provision include Sheffield (7.4 per cent) and Kirklees (2.9 per cent). The vast majority have closed just one playground.
Figures for staffed play provision, such as adventure playgrounds, show that one in six facilities have closed since 2010. Of the 34 councils that provided data on this - not every council has staffed facilities - eight (24 per cent) had closed a total of 23 playgrounds. In fact, five of the eight councils had closed their entire staffed play provision.
Play England director Catherine Prisk warns that staffed provision is most at risk from the cuts. "I would be gobsmacked if the adventure playgrounds we still have are here in the next three years, unless they diversify their income," she says. "The chances of new ones coming on board are zero."
Prisk suggests a model adopted by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council is one way councils can protect services. In its response to the FoI request, Dudley explained it generates income for its only adventure playground through "school bookings, private parties, sale of food, rent of space, dedicated fundraising through its friends group and corporate sponsorship".
Unsurprisingly, considering the number of staffed playground closures, 62 per cent of councils said they now employed fewer play staff compared to 2010. In addition, one in five said they had not hired any new playworkers since 2010.
Prisk suggests figures that show a decline in play staff tell only part of the story. "We don't have the play leads in senior roles co-ordinating what's happening in an area anymore," she says.
"One of the big successes of the previous government was having local authority staff in place who brought play, youth, early years and childcare services together."
FoI responses showed budgets for play provision are declining across revenue, capital and maintenance funding streams.
Of 119 councils that provided data on capital expenditure, 58 per cent experienced a fall in budget. The average fall in capital spending between 2010/11 and 2013/14 is more than £334,000 - a 69 per cent drop. However, Bradford Metropolitan District Council reported the biggest fall over the three years of £1.2m, and 12 per cent of councils said they had no capital budget for 2013/14 at all.
Although 34 per cent of councils said they had higher capital budgets in 2013/14 than in 2010/11, the average increase was £82,000, meaning average reductions outstripped average increases by a ratio of four to one.
Only 51 councils were able to separate revenue budgets for play services from other funding streams. CYP Now asked councils to provide data relating only to playgrounds, play areas or play services that were publicly available. The results show 71 per cent of councils are spending less on revenue costs, such as paying staff salaries and utility bills, in 2013/14 than in 2010/11. On average, budgets fell 60 per cent, or £195,800.
However, some councils reported much deeper cuts. For example, Newcastle City Council has almost £1.2m less in its revenue budget this financial year than in 2010/11 - a 91 per cent reduction.
A fifth of respondents had higher revenue budgets for 2013/14 than in the previous year. However, the average budget rise was much lower at 14 per cent - about £31,000 - than the average cut. A fifth of councils also reported having no revenue budget at all for 2013/14, suggesting they were expecting to run play services for nothing.
Maintenance budgets showed the least change over the four years. Less than half (44 per cent) reported a fall in funds to maintain play areas - the average fall being 28 per cent. As many as 29 per cent said they had more money in 2013/14 than in 2010/11, with the remainder declaring constant budgets over the four-year period.
These dramatic spending falls come only six years after the previous Labour government invested £235m in developing play facilities through its Playbuilder and Play Pathfinder schemes as part of a national Play Strategy (see funding box). Services were also bolstered by the Big Lottery Fund's Our Children's Play programme, which handed out £123m between 2006 and 2012. Soon after becoming Education Secretary, Michael Gove froze the now-ceased Playbuilder funding and reduced 2010/11 allocations by 28 per cent.
Prisk says declining play budgets and facilities are "entirely because of central government cuts to local authority funding".
Her assessment is backed by councils' comments in their FoI responses. Sunderland City Council's is typical: "External funding opportunities for play developments are not readily available as in previous years," it says.
"In this challenging economic climate, it is important that the city council is clear where and why resources are focused to make the best use out of public money."
Independent play consultant Mick Conway also warns that funding streams that councils have relied upon for some time could diminish further in the future. For example, he says infrastructure funding paid by developers to councils under Section 106 agreements will be affected by the government's introduction of a community infrastructure levy in April 2014.
His concern is echoed by councils in their FoI responses. West Berkshire Council warned: "A total 95 per cent of the capital spend in the last few years has come from external funding sources.
"These sources are now drying up and with Section 106 contributions being replaced by the community infrastructure levy, these external sources of funding are going to become even more difficult to source."
Conway suggests one way to protect play areas is to transfer them from local authorities to social landlords on housing estates. "Because they are smaller scale, closer to the residents and tenants and more accountable to them, play areas are doing quite well under social landlords," he says.
With further cuts on the horizon to local authority budgets, many fear playgrounds will continue to close for some time to come, harming efforts to tackle childhood obesity and inactivity.
Prisk says the play sector's future depends upon its wider appreciation of the physical and mental health benefits it brings children. She also suggests schools should be required to open their play facilities to the public. "It's a massive waste of space that schools close their playgrounds," she says.
Reacting to the FoI findings, Association of Directors of Children's Services president Andrew Webb says the reduction in play work is "disappointing". But he emphasises spending is not the only measure of children's access to play.
"What we're seeing councils do is try to create priorities to respond to the massive cuts in early intervention and other grants that are coming down to us," he says. "But there is no relationship between what councils spend on play and the amount of play that goes on in children's lives."
Webb says cuts to staffed play services is "a shame", but adds councils are being forced to make "stark choices" about which services they can afford to run. He adds that councils would have to make more difficult decisions in the future.
"Councils' budgets are not going to stabilise," he warns. "In 2015/16 and 2016/17, we will see significant further reductions in councils' budgets and the consequences of that will mean many services will just cease to exist."
In response to the findings, a Department for Education spokesperson said: "The government has secured a good deal for councils. It is for them, with their local partners and communities, to determine their own local priorities.
"It is not appropriate for central government to decide what play facilities are available in local areas. And it is not for central government to tell experts in the play sector how to deliver play provision. Children, parents, play professionals and local communities know best what is most needed in their local areas."
The survey collected data about provision offered directly by local authorities and lower tier councils, and does not show a total amount of play provision available in an area. The voluntary sector, community organisations and parish councils are among other bodies that deliver play services.
The survey studied provision that was available year-round, excluding provision such as seasonal play schemes.
PLAY GLOSSARY
- Adventure playgrounds - Free play facilities commonly for up to 16-year-olds located in urban environments. Parents need not accompany children as play is guided by play workers. Registration may be required. Opening times tend to be after school and full-time during school holidays.
- Play streets - A movement that began in Bristol where residents apply to local authorities to close streets to traffic periodically to enable children to play safely. Legislation to enable closures has existed since the 1950s.
- Play workers - Plan, organise and take part in play and leisure activities for fourto 16-year-olds.
- Unstaffed play facilities - Playgrounds with free-to-use equipment for toddlers through to teenagers usually maintained and managed by local authorities.
FUNDING
- Funding for play services has traditionally been raised through core local authority grants
- In 2008, the then government launched the Playbuilder and Play Pathfinder schemes, investing £235m to provide 30 adventure playgrounds, and up to 3,500 new or refurbished play areas in England
- Between 2006 and 2012, Big Lottery Fund offered £123m of play funding through its Our Children's Play programme.
- Big Lottery Fund is currently offering funding towards play through its £150m Reaching Communities fund and £300 to £10,000 Awards for All grants.
- The Department of Health is funding a £1.07m, three-year street play project led by Play England.
- Councils can raise capital funds through Section 106 agreements, although the future of this funding source is uncertain as planning laws change in April 2014.
CASE STUDY: ISLINGTON BUYS INTO LONG-TERM BENEFITS OF OUTDOOR PLAY FOR CHILDREN
The London Borough of Islington has bucked the trend of staffed play closures by keeping all 12 of its adventure playgrounds open, despite facing £100m of government cuts since 2010. Its children live in the most densely populated borough in England, with the second smallest amount of open space per resident in the country. The playgrounds offer them opportunities to take risks, play freely and experience nature, under the guidance of professional play workers.
An Islington council spokesman explains: "Islington council has had a strong partnership with the local voluntary and community sector in relation to the delivery of adventure play for many years. Following a large-scale review of its approach to adventure play in 2011/12, an agreement was reached whereby the council would continue to manage six of the 12 sites for a fixed period, while the six sites that were, at that time, managed by individual small local community groups would be brought into one contract which would be openly tendered. This process resulted in Islington Play Association being appointed to operate and manage six adventure play sites for a contract period of up to three years.
"As well as maintaining the annual revenue for adventure play, the council has made significant investments in the land and facilities. All 12 adventure playgrounds have been protected for children's play in perpetuity. In addition, the council entered into a partnership with Royal Bank of Scotland and Splash Projects to provide more than £600,000 worth of site and building improvements across the 12 adventure playgrounds."
CASE STUDY: PLAY PROVISION UNDER THREAT IN NEWCASTLE AFTER MASSIVE BUDGET CUT
Newcastle City Council's FoI response revealed it had closed all five of its staffed play services since 2010. At almost £1.2m, it reported the highest fall in revenue spending of all councils. This represents a 91 per cent fall in its budget between 2010/11 and 2013/14. Its maintenance budget for 2013/14 was 56 per cent lower than in 2010/11 - at just £136,000 for almost 100 unstaffed playgrounds. Its play workforce, which stood at 40 full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff between April 2010 and March 2013, had fallen to 8.77 FTE staff by October 2013.
In March, the authority published plans to close its play service for fiveto 12-year-olds. It must make £100m of savings by 2016 - a third of the authority's entire revenue budget. Its 2013 to 2016 budget report states: "We will no longer deliver open-access play services in different parts of the city. There will also be a reduction of the resource available for holiday provision for children with disabilities."
Since March, the authority has published plans to further reduce spending, which include proposals to reduce maintenance of play areas and parks.
A council report highlighted residents' concerns about the proposed removal of broken play equipment rather than its repair: "This is seen to be short-sighted and an ultimately expensive proposal, particularly given the rates of obesity in Newcastle's children and play being central to wellbeing."
No one at Newcastle council was available to comment on the future of play in the city. In its FoI response, it said: "A small team of three have been appointed in 2013/14 to lead on the local authority duty to ensure activities and facilities for children and young people working with partner agencies."
DECIMATION OF PLAY FACILITIES WILL SEE MORE CHILDREN BORED AND STUCK INDOORS
By Tim Gill, independent play expert
"These figures show just how fast England is moving away from the previous government's vision of outdoor play as an essential ingredient of a "good enough" childhood. The Play Strategy, launched in 2008, tapped into a shared (and cross-party) concern about children's wellbeing. It recognised the intrinsic value of play and the benefits that good play opportunities bring to children, families and the wider community. It also accepted that central government had a lead role and invested widely in staffed and unstaffed facilities.
"Now, with local authority play budgets falling, provision closing in almost a third of councils and 15 per cent of staffed facilities closed since 2010, a growing number of children are being left with nowhere to play outdoors with their friends. Many will end up bored and stuck indoors - especially in disadvantaged areas, where parks, play areas and green spaces are often poor or non-existent, and where local authorities have historically invested in staffed facilities.
"It could be argued that the picture might have been even worse, given the state of local authority finances and the lack of statutory underpinning for play provision. It is also intriguing that a few councils have bucked the trend and increased their budgets. Does this show that some local politicians have realised how much play facilities are valued?
"Outdoor play remains on the public policy agenda - just. The Department of Health has supported an initiative to promote sessional road closures to open up residential streets for play, while the Cabinet Office has funded a consortium of play projects led by Play England for work to promote volunteering and community action. But these initiatives in no way compensate for the decimation of local play facilities.
"It is hard to overstate the challenge now facing play advocates. Austerity is set to continue. The government remains largely uninterested, if not hostile. Its proposed new legal thresholds around antisocial behaviour are so low that even the police are worried that they will criminalise children for being children.
"To see a different approach, we only have to look just over the border. In Scotland, Northern Ireland and (especially) Wales, the devolved administrations are actively engaged in expanding children's opportunities for play.
"But, even in England, there are signs of hope. The Wild Network, a growing coalition aimed at getting more children outdoors and into nature, could become a powerful force for change. The spread of parent-led street play projects shows a strong appetite for grassroots action. The challenge is to channel this positive energy into a coherent, effective alliance: one that can make the case to government, local authorities and the public that playing outdoors is a vital ingredient of every child's life."