Powys' Play Sufficiency Assessment Executive Summary 2022

The overall RAG status for Matter A has been upgraded from amber to green.  

All other Matters remain overall at amber, which indicates that not all of the criteria for those matters have been fully met.  However, of 100 separate criteria in Matters B to I, the majority, 57, are green,or fully met, 40 are amber, partial met, and only 3 are red, not met, as detailed in the overview below.

Matter A: Population

The Play Sufficiency Assessment should provide an overview of population and demographic data used locally to plan for play provision.

RAG Status for Matter A

A comprehensive range of data is available, although it is at times difficult to access, so it is assessed that the criteria for this matter have been fully met; this is upgraded, as the criteria were only partially met in 2019.

Matter B: Providing for Diverse Needs 

The Play Sufficiency Assessment should present data about how the Local Authority and partners aim to offer play opportunities that are inclusive and encourage all children to play and meet together.

RAG Status for Matter B

6/10 criteria are amber, 4/10 are green.  This remains unchanged from the 2019 assessment.

Matter C: Space available for children to play: Open Spaces and Outdoor unstaffed designated play spaces

The Local Authority should recognise that all open spaces within their area are potentially important areas where children can play or pass through to reach other play areas or places where they go.

RAG Status for Matter C

Overall, 11/17 criteria are green and 6/17 are amber.

For the Open Spaces criteria, 5/6 are green, but this is let down by the criterion for Brownfield sites, which is amber. However, this has been upgraded from the previous assessment.

For Outdoor Unstaffed Designated Play Areas, 6/11 are green and the remaining 5 are amber, 2of which, the development of a new fixed play provision standard and recognition of the importance of playing fields when making disposal decisions, have been downgraded, having previously been assessed as green.

Matter D: Supervised provision

The Local Authority should aim to offer a range of supervised play provision.

RAG Status for Matter D

11/13 criteria are green, with 2, staffed playwork and Youth Service provision, being upgraded from amber in the previous assessment.  Only 2/13 are still rated as amber, so overall the criteria are almost fully met and the aim will be to fully meet these criteria by the time of the next assessment.

Matter E: Charges for play provision

The Local Authority should consider which play opportunities involve a charge and the extent to which the Local Authority takes these charges into account in assessing for sufficient play opportunities for children living in low income families as set out in the Statutory Guidance.

RAG Status for Matter E

6/8 criteria are green, with only 2/8 assessed as amber, although 1 of these, recording of no cost/low cost provision, has been downgraded, having previously been assessed as green.   As with Matter D, the aim will be to fully meet these criteria by the time of the next assessment.

Matter F: Access to space/provision

The Local Authority should consider all the factors that contribute to children's access to play or moving around their community.

RAG Status for Matter F

13/20 criteria are green with 3, plan to improve walking and cycling access, publicising information contributing to positive community attitudes to play and engaging with the media to encourager positive portrayal of play, upgraded from amber in the 2019 assessment.  6/20 are amber and 1/20, consideration of access to play in transport decision making, is red. 

Matter G: Securing and developing the play workforce

The Local Authority should provide information on the organisational structure of the policy area which manages the play agenda and the play workforce.

RAG Status for Matter G

5/11 criteria are greenand 6/11 are amber. This remains unchanged from the 2019 assessment.

Matter H: Community engagement and participation

The Local Authority should consult widely with children, their families and other stakeholders on their views on play provision.  It should also promote wide community engagement in providing play friendly communities.

RAG Status for Matter H

1/2 criteria is green,  1/2 is amber.  This also remains unchanged from the 2019 assessment

Matter I: Play within all relevant policy and implementation agendas

The Local Authority should examine all its policy agendas for their potential impact on children's opportunities to play and embed targets and action to enhance children's play opportunities within all such policies and strategies.

RAG Status for Matter I

6/19 criteria are green, 11/19 are amber and 2/19 are red. Again, this remains unchanged from the 2019 assessment.

In summary, the overall assessment for 8 of the 9 matters remains unchanged at amber, with only Matter A, Population Summary, being upgraded to green.  4 matters, Matter B, Providing for Diverse Needs, Matter G, Securing and Developing the Play Workforce, Matter H, Community Engagement and Participation and Matter I, Play within Policy and Implementation Agendas, recorded no change in the rating of all individual criteria. 

A total of 5 criteria from Matter D, Supervised Provision, and Matter F, Access to Space/Provision, were upgraded from amber to green, 1 criterion from Matter E was downgraded from green to amber and in Matter C,  Space Available for Play, 1 was upgraded from red to amber and 2 were downgraded from green to amber. 

This must all be viewed in the unique context of the assessment period, which was largely overshadowed by the Covid pandemic and the implementation of Business Continuity for much of the time.  However, as the detailed evidence for each of the criteria illustrates, considerable work did take place and much progress was made on many fronts.  

3 criteria remain red, indicating that action has yet to be taken, but again this should be viewed in context and these areas will be flagged as priorities for action in the coming period.  The shortfalls recorded against various criteria have also enabled us to identify other priorities for action, some of which are carried forward from the 2019 action plan, as Covid restrictions and limitations meant that they have yet to be fully implemented.  We will discuss these with a range of partners, services and organisations to agree joint action plans and priorities over the coming three years.