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Play Sufficiency Assessment (PSA) 2016

Published: 18/03/2016

Flintshire’s Cabinet will be asked next week to approve the County’s Play Sufficiency Assessment (PSA) 2016 and the subsequent Action Plan 2016/17 which needs to be sent to Welsh Government by the end of March. Cllr Kevin Jones, Cabinet Member for Leisure, said: “We, as a local authority, have a legal obligation under the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 to report to Welsh Government with regard to provision of play schemes and play areas in the county. By incorporating this assessment with future proposals for sustaining play areas and summer play schemes, this provides a full overview of play provision in our County.” The report refers to the summer play scheme programme for 2015 as well as discussing financial implications for the delivery of summer play scheme in 2016 and 2017. In addition, the Cabinet will be asked to recommend that the Flintshire Strategic Play Forum be reformed in 2016 to form a multi-agency forum to guide and monitor the Play Sufficiency Assessment Action Plan 2016. Welsh Government ‘Families First’ funding is no longer available to support delivery of this summer’s play scheme. Flintshire County Council has committed to finding funding for one year to ensure there are funds available for this summer. The impact of this loss of funding impact the delivery of the summer 2017 programme. Town and Community Councils have been asked to consider increasing their contribution and to explore alternative delivery models to sustain the provision of play schemes in their areas. Planning and consultation will now take place to enable a pathway to delivery for summer 2017. Libraries and Leisure Services have developed an alternative delivery model (ADM) which presents the council with an opportunity to reduce the impact of budget reduction on children’s equipped play areas helping to safeguard children’s play opportunities in the county. The ADM will allow a greater number of play areas per community to be operated by the Council. This is due to the increased efficiencies the ADM will be able to make. If agreed, further discussions with communities would take place over the coming months, with communities being asked to consider how the remaining play areas might be managed at a community level. If approved by Cabinet, it will go to the Organisational Change Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 29 March.