More than 70 MPs are backing a campaign to revive England’s playgrounds as pressure grows on the government to do more to tackle community decline to fight Reform UK.
Labour MP Tom Hayes has tabled an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill that would ensure playgrounds lost to development are replaced.
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Mr Hayes told Sky News it is a personal subject as he grew up in poverty, caring for two disabled parents, and without his local playground “they wouldn’t have been able to afford any sort of leisure activity for me”.
“Talking to parents these days, with the cost of living crisis going on, they just don’t have play areas on their doorstep like they used to. What they have instead is rusting swings or boarded-up playgrounds.”
The Bournemouth East MP said this speaks to a “wider hopelessness” that people are feeling about “littering in their streets, graffiti on their walls, potholes in their roads”.
“It just makes people feel like nobody really cares about their area. That’s at a time when people are feeling hopeless about the possibility of change and Reform, obviously, are trying to capitalise on that.”
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Under the last Labour government, Ed Balls and Andy Burnham launched England’s first and only play strategy, which aimed to create 3,500 new play spaces across every local authority – backed by £235m of funding.
It was abandoned by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition two years later and facilities have been in sharp decline since then, according to Play England which has developed the amendment Mr Hayes is tabling.
The amendment would require councils in England to assess play provision and integrate “play sufficiency” into local plans and planning decisions – similar to a law that already exists in Scotland and Wales.
It would also require developers to deliver and fund adequate play infrastructure, with a focus on inclusive play equipment for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Mr Hayes said this would not cost the Treasury anything and “is such a simple thing” the government can do quickly for children and young people “who have been shafted for so long”.
It is backed by 71 MPs from across Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and the Greens, with many supporters hopeful it could also reduce screen time amid mounting concerns about online safety.
Pressure on government over left-behind areas
Amendments by backbench MPs are not usually agreed to but can be used to put pressure on the government, with the issue to be debated in the House of Commons this week as the planning bills enter the report stage.
Mr Hayes said his playground campaign was just the start as he backed the resurrection of Sure Start centres, following calls from Rother Valley MP Jake Richards last week.
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There is growing momentum among Labour backbenchers who want to see the government give more of a priority to social infrastructure to deliver tangible change to communities and fend off the threat of Reform UK.
MPs and policy insiders have told Sky News they are concerned Downing Street’s ambition to grow GDP with long-term transport and infrastructure projects will not make a difference in places that look and feel forgotten, even if achieved.
As Sky News has previously reported, several Red Wall MPs have backed the work of the Independent Commission On Neighbourhoods (ICON), which has identified 613 “mission-critical” neighbourhoods in need of a cash boost to ensure people in left-behind areas can benefit from growth.
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The commission, chaired by Labour peer Hilary Armstrong, highlights the need to regenerate neighbourhoods with facilities like libraries, parks and community centres for voters to feel a difference.
Any money for such a project will be set out in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s spending review on Wednesday, when she will allocate funds for each department over the coming years.
One of ICON’s supporters is Blackpool South MP Chris Webb, who has also signed Mr Hayes’s amendment.
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He told Sky News playgrounds “will make a real difference to families in Blackpool, which has the most mission-critical neighbourhoods in the country”.
“I’m committed to fighting for policies that benefit our community, and I’m thrilled to be working with Tom Hayes MP, the play sector and Play England to make this vision a reality.”
Sky News has contacted the government for comment.
