The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing presented a report informing Cabinet of the statutory duty under s.11 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 on all councils to secure a sufficient quantity and quality of opportunities for leisure, play and culture for children and young people, up until the age of 18 years, based on Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing also asked Cabinet to note the statutory responsibilities created by s.11 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 and the statutory guidance by Welsh Government in “Wales, A Play Friendly Country” (July 2014) meaning local authorities were now required to secure sufficient opportunities based on assessments that they undertook.

Approval was also being sought of the assessment conducted during 2018-19 (attached at Appendix 1 to the report) and the proposed action plan for 2019-20 (attached at Appendix 2), which was required by Welsh Government, noting that any further amendments requested by Welsh Government were reported back to Cabinet.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing explained the background, the issues/matters that had been considered in the development of the assessment, the reporting requirements, the key responsibilities and the implications including the financial implications.

The Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Future Generations thanked the Corporate Director and her team. Overall there appeared to be a surplus with a deficit in a few areas however this was now being addressed. She welcomed the setting up of a working group and the development of a Youth Charter. The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing agreed to pass the comments back to her team. 

The Cabinet Member for Social Services and Early Help thanked the Corporate Director for a comprehensive report. It had always been a challenge securing disabled facilities and this looked at different ways of providing schemes improving availability for those with disabilities.

The Leader added that play had to be inclusive and he was pleased with investment in outdoor children’s play areas across the borough, for children with disabilities. He acknowledged that more work had to be done to improve the overall provision. He proposed committing additional targeted resources to match fund any additional resources from Town and Community Councils or Welsh Government so that the progress already made could continue.

The Cabinet Member for Communities asked if they relied on volunteers for the supervised provision and asked if support was provided to the volunteers to allow them to access training to fulfil their role. The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing was unable to comment on volunteers but they did have seasonal and casual staff and they had access to training.

The Interim Chief Executive stated that if consideration was being given to committing additional resources as part of the MTFS, they should also consider being more imaginative with different types of play space.

The Leader added that progress had been made through the 21^st century school modernisation programme with sports pitches and all weather pitches and they could build on this further with different types of play space. 

RESOLVED:             i)   Cabinet noted the statutory duty under s.11 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 on all councils to secure a sufficient quantity and quality of opportunities for leisure, play and culture for children and young people, up until the age of 18 years, based on Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

ii)   Cabinet noted the statutory responsibilities created by s.11 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 and the statutory guidance by Welsh Government in ‘Wales, A Play Friendly Country’ (July 2014). 

i)       Cabinet approved the assessment conducted during 2018-19 (attached at Appendix 1) and the proposed action plan for 2019-20 (attached at Appendix 2), which was required by Welsh Government  noting that any further amendments requested by Welsh Government would be reported back to Cabinet. 

ii)      Consideration be given to committing additional targeted resources as part of the MTFS, to match fund any additional resources from Town and Community Councils or Welsh Government so that the progress already made could continue.