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WQ.343/2024
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES BY DEPUTY L.K.F. STEPHENSON OF ST. MARY, ST. OUEN AND ST. PETER
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 7th OCTOBER 2024 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 14th OCTOBER 2024
Question
"Will the Minister detail what actions he and his department have undertaken since he took office in January 2024 to develop a play strategy for the Island, with a specific focus on play area provision in St. Helier , as set out in the Bridging Island Plan?"
Answer
Play remains an important area of policy that I am continuing to support in my role as Minister for Children and Families. I am fully aware of the impact that play opportunities have on the physical, emotional, and social wellbeing of children of all ages. Indeed, this subject has been highlighted via the Children, Young People and Families' Plan 2024-2027.
I have consistently heard from children and young people asking for more spaces and opportunities to play. On Children's Day this year the feedback we received included more parks in town, as Millennium Park gets very busy and more activities in the East of the Island as the recent play spaces such as the Skate Park and Les Quennevais & Le Creux are all to the west of the Island.
In response to these insights from young people, I am pleased to advise that Children and young people will have an active opportunity to review the plans as part of the next School Council Network meeting. Views from this forum will inform the designs for the upgrade of the Millennium Town Park, the planning application for which is now live. This is an excellent example of a child-led design approach in action, and I hope that we can continue this approach in the future.
Following the change of Government earlier in 2024, this workstream was taken on by the Department for Children, Young People, Education and Skills. All Departments have since undergone a prioritisation exercise and unfortunately this work has subsequently been delayed due to resourcing constraints within CYPES.
A specific play strategy has therefore not been progressed as it was felt that the additional resource to coordinate a play strategy were not consistent with the government and departmental commitment to reduce the growth of the public sector at this time and fell outside those areas of additional spend as set out in the Common Strategic Policy 2024-6.