Camden upholds 2.8m play budget cut

The decision to cut around two-thirds of the play services budget had already been approved by the Labour-controlled council, but was called in for review by Liberal Democrat councillors.

The move, which includes cutting after-school clubs, had been criticised by local families but was upheld by members of the council’s children, schools and families scrutiny committee when they met this week.

Among those to criticise the cuts is Play England director Adrian Voce.

He said: "At a time when everybody is at a loss to find a rationale for the trashing of their communities by young people, to be cutting the very types of service that give children a place that is local, that’s theirs, that they can respect and where they develop friendship circles, is really short-sighted."

Voce also praised local parents for seeking to challenge the decision, adding: "It is heartening that the community and the parents in that community are making their views known in this way. Play services do tend to be overlooked by a lot of policymakers and politicians at all levels. The community in Camden is telling them how valuable these services really are."

The earlier decision to slash play services funding was approved by the cabinet last month. The plans mean the council will no longer directly run play services and will instead allocate £1.5m to commission a new play service focusing on projects for the most vulnerable children in the borough.

In documents presented to the scrutiny committee Lib Dem councillors said the cut to the play budget of 65 per cent was "disproportionate". They added that the decision to "label and isolate vulnerable children" raises "serious ethical, legal and social questions".

Councillor Larraine Revah, cabinet member for children, schools and families, said the council had listened to parents’ concerns and found money to fund voluntary sector play services until the end of August 2012.

"We need to target [play] services to meet the needs of the most vulnerable children. However, we understand that parents who work and study also need opportunities for low cost childcare.

"We’ll be talking to schools and community groups to encourage low-cost activities for children to run beyond the normal school day and we want to encourage everyone to work together by participating in the next stage of consultation. This will consider how we can best shape the new provision and create a good play service for all Camden children," Revah added.

Councillor Tom Simon, Lib Dem lead for children and families in Camden, said: "The council will now have to thrash out the details of their plans with play providers and I will be scrutinising that at every step."
 
He added that play providers rejected the plans when consulted earlier this year. "The council went ahead with it anyway effectively ignoring them and alienating the very group they have to work with."
 
He also voiced concerned that the focus of play funding on only the most vulnerable children will lead to stigmatisation and put extra pressure on working families on low income.