Welcome to Play England
Play England's aim is for all children and young people in England to have regular access and opportunity for free, inclusive, local play provision and play space.
Play England provides advice and support to promote good practice, and works to ensure that the importance of play is recognised by policy makers, planners and the public.
The latest updates on Play England services and activities – including information on how our regional teams can support you – can be found on this website.
Play for all children in England
Play England is building the case for a strategic, cross-departmental play policy and implementation plan in England that is based on the vision that strong, vibrant communities have at their heart a variety of places for children to play.
Play England is calling for national, regional and local government action to improve and increase children's and young people’s enjoyment of play and informal recreation.
This is to ensure that in every residential area:
- there are a variety of places for play including staffed and unsupervised dedicated play provision
- streets and neighbourhoods feel like safe, interesting places to play
- children and young people feel accepted when playing in their local streets and neighbourhoods
- parks and open spaces are attractive and welcoming to children and young people, are well maintained and generally well used
- children, young people and their families have a chance to take an active role in the development of local play spaces and provision
- play places and general provision are always inclusive and attractive and welcoming
- there are adaptable, safe and accessible routes to school and to play areas.
To enable these outcomes, Play England also calls for:
- More quality play provision in children’s centres, schools and extended services.
- Recognition of playwork as a key part of the children’s professional workforce.
- The adoption of area-wide indicators for play provision as part of local authority performance frameworks.
- More incentive for local authorities to prioritise play provision as part of Local Area Agreements.
- Planning requirements for outdoor play space in all new housing builds and re-designs.
- More, and more effective, traffic calming in residential areas, with an increase in the number of home zones and child-friendly streets.
Read more about Play England's work as one of the National Children's Bureau's key policy areas.
