Powys' Play Sufficiency Assessment Executive Summary 2022
Introduction to the Powys Play Strategy Assessment
Each Local Authority in Wales is required to undertake a Play Sufficiency Assessment (PSA) every three years and produce an annual action plan. They must demonstrate that they have taken into account and assessed the matters set out in the PSA (Wales) Regulations 2012 and Statutory guidance.
Play is a recognised right of children under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child - Article 31 and General Comment 17.
'Play encompasses children's behaviour which is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated. It is performed for no external goal or reward and is a fundamental and integral part of healthy development - not only for individual children, but also for the society in which they live'.
Welsh Government 'Creating a Play Friendly Wales' 2012
Play Wales states that playing is one of the easiest and most natural ways that children of any age can engage in necessary levels of physical activity. The Welsh Government's Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales consultation lists play as a main influencer on children's healthy weight behaviours.
The National Assembly for Wales 2019 paper 'Physical Activity of Children and Young People' cites the new curriculum as an opportunity to increase physical activity within schools, recommending that all schools should provide wider access to their school activity facilities to local communities, to encourage more physical activity outside the school day.
Powys County Council recognises that 'for children to have sufficient play opportunities, they need time to play, space to play and the recognition by adults that this is every child's right so that all children are allowed this time and space'.
Wales - A Play Friendly Country 2014
This Play Sufficiency Assessment has been an opportunity to review our work and activities over the past 3 years since the previous assessment was completed, as part of the commissioning cycle. We have many partners and stakeholders in Powys who are committed to creating a play friendly society that offers a wide range of play and recreational opportunities and to supporting our children and young people to access these opportunities.