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Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2013

31 Oct 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Play Strategy Action Plan

Campbell, Aileen SNP Clydesdale Watch on SPTV

Absolutely. As I said, people should view open spaces as being equally for the benefit of children across the country and should allow children to access them as adults can.

I return to outdoor learning. I was pleased that Scotland’s eight to 12-year-olds were outperforming those in other parts of the United Kingdom in a recent research project by RSPB Scotland in terms of connection with nature, although we have a way to go to match our Nordic neighbours. Our play strategy should be an incentive to grow that appreciation of nature.

Many members will have seen a recent BBC report on the latest findings on physical inactivity rates of children. The study states that half of all UK seven-year-olds do not get enough exercise and that girls are far less active than boys.

Play should also be seen through a preventative and early intervention lens. By getting more children out to play, we can reduce and reverse negative health impacts. It is important to remember that we are not starting from scratch; we have a professional and vibrant play sector that supports and delivers quality play to children every day. As I said, it has contributed to our national strategy.

The previous £4 million go play fund developed an outcome evaluation framework to allow play providers to clearly articulate the benefits of play. The framework is now widely used and recognised, and it has been successful in securing significant additional funding for the delivery of play projects.

We have further supported play through our £3 million go2play fund, which supports community-based free play, development of innovative projects and the transformation of 30 school playgrounds into natural play spaces. That investment has enabled projects around Scotland to ensure that play is advanced by a dedicated and professional workforce.

During national play day at the beginning of August, I joined play rangers from PEEK—Possibilities for Each and Every Kid—which operates in the east end of Glasgow. They were doing their bit to allow children to access the areas around them and to reclaim those spaces for positive use.

I have made clear the importance of play and the Government’s commitment to supporting children to play every day. I recognise the passion and commitment from all MSPs and from the play profession—it is an exciting time for play, and we have the opportunity to build on the strategy. I look forward to hearing the comments from members on all sides of the chamber as we seek to develop the play strategy in the years ahead.

I move,

That the Parliament welcomes the action plan, Play Strategy for Scotland: Our Vision, which sets out specific actions, timescales and responsibilities for delivering support for play; agrees that play helps to ensure that children have the best possible start in life and are ready to succeed and that it can make them successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens; further agrees that play is absolutely vital to a child’s wellbeing, that it contributes to the development of physical, cognitive, emotional and social skills and is an important tool in tackling poverty and health inequalities; believes that it is therefore vital that all children and young people should have the opportunity to play every day; supports the collaborative multiagency approach to improving the life chances of all children as the right way forward, and congratulates the work of the play sector in helping to improve support for play.

14:45

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Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2013

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