My amendment protecting playgrounds will help restore pride in place

4 min read07 June

We have an opportunity to revive playgrounds across England, at no extra cost to the Treasury. Doing so would help our constituents reconnect with their local areas.

People are rightly proud of where they live. But day in, day out, they’ve been forced to live with signs of decline: litter-strewn streets, potholed roads, dirty street signs, rusting streetlights, overgrown verges, unaddressed graffiti. The list goes on and on.

When our communities look left behind, no wonder people feel left behind. We all know the reason: years of austerity, starving councils of the means to maintain the basics. But now we have the chance to give councils the tools and direction to improve the look of our communities. We have the chance to turn the page – and quickly.

At the next election, we will all be judged by Ronald Reagan’s question: ‘Are you better off than you were?’ With modest public investment in our communities, we can answer that question positively, very quickly. Such investment would speedily improve the look of people’s neighbourhoods and show that Westminster listens and delivers.

It shouldn’t always be about the Treasury spending money, though – with legislative tweaks, government could embrace solutions at no cost to themselves. And this opportunity is particularly evident when it comes to our playgrounds.

If you stroll through any of our towns or cities, you will stumble on a rusted swing set, a broken slide, or a patch of concrete where children once played. For families on tight budgets, these free spaces are a lifeline in a cost-of-living crisis. When parents want help to get children off digital screens, the answer is simple: give them a playground.

Supported by nearly 60 MPs, my amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill would stop any net loss of existing play spaces because of development without equivalent provision. It would require developers to deliver and fund adequate play infrastructure, with a focus on inclusive play equipment for children with special educational needs and disabilities. And it would come at no cost to the Treasury.

New Clause 82 would require planning authorities in England to assess play provision and integrate ‘play sufficiency’ into local plans and planning decisions. With support from Labour, Conservative, Green, Liberal Democrat, and Independent MPs, it would introduce a play sufficiency duty into England. Such a duty already exists in Scotland and Wales. Now, we have the chance to even things up across our United Kingdom.

I have worked closely with the play sector and Play England because supporting play is good for children, but it’s also good for our economy. Members of the British Association of Play Industries (API) contribute at least £250m to our economy. Many members are small and family businesses based in your constituencies and mine, powering growth and employment in our communities.

Parliament is finally considering play. On 8 January, I secured the first parliamentary debate on playgrounds in seven years and the longest in seventeen – when Ed Balls and Andy Burnham introduced the first and only National Play Strategy to date. In May, we turned the House of Commons into the House of Play with play equipment to launch Play England’s ten-year strategy, “It All Starts with Play”. And we’re about to launch an APPG on play next month. The effort to improve play is here to stay.

On Wednesday 11 June, we’ll be celebrating the International Day of Play – as well as the Comprehensive Spending Review – with the launch of the Raising the Nation Play Commission’s final report. Led by Paul Lindley OBE in partnership with the Centre for Young Lives, the Commission will be making good practical recommendations.

With the government making record investments into public services, how we get around, and our wider economy, the British public will feel tangible improvements in living standards. We are already seeing the green shoots of our country’s recovery. While all of these changes take effect, sometimes in the longer term, we should be embracing ways to increase morale and feed the belief that things will get better.

With New Clause 82, we have just the answer. By backing my amendment, MPs can help our constituents to enjoy better play opportunities, to feel safer, optimistic, and connected to each other. We can turn the page and give people pride in their place.

Tom Hayes MP is the Labour MP for Bournemouth East.