Member

As I was saying on the last group, the Labour Party actually has decent form on this. In 2008—noble Lords might or might not want to dig out the photo here—Ed Balls and Andy Burnham, then the Secretaries of State, got together in a playground on a swing to launch the play strategy for the Labour Party. Two years later, the coalition Government came in and threw it out. Wales and Scotland, stepping ahead on this issue, as they have on so many areas of public and environmental health, have enacted play-sufficiency legislation. In Wales, local authorities are legally required to assess and improve play opportunities. Scotland’s law integrates play issues into local development plans, with a focus on child-friendly neighbourhoods.