Play England reports encouraging signs of cross-sector working, withparks and planners, among others, taking on board the value of play andthe relevance to their service. However, one of the biggest challengesremains to integrate play in children and young people's plans, to getplay taken seriously by health authorities and for play to be activelybuilt into specific programmes such as children's centres and extendedschools.
Staffordshire has taken a county-wide approach, with the council takinga lead on developing a vision for play for the whole area and eachdistrict having their own local plan.
A cross-sector approach has been built in from the start with a widerange of services, families and the public taking part in a majorlong-term consultation. According to the council, the process itself hasbeen key to bringing people together, helped by the fact that onesection of the authority has responsibility for Sure Start children'scentres, extended schools and youth as well as play. A better quality ofplay provision is seen as an early gain from these changes and there'slong-term confidence over the future of play.
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