The pioneering Play Sufficiency Duty in Wales: how can we respond to children’s views?

There is a well-established body of solid evidence that shows the contribution that play, particularly self-organised play, can make to children’s long-term and immediate wellbeing, to their physical health and to their mental health and resilience (1). Understanding this helps all adults to advocate for a rights-based approach to support children’s play and the importance it holds for them in their lives and their everyday experiences.
The Welsh Government has been committed to children’s play since devolution (the transfer of legislative power for self-governance to Wales by the UK Government in 1998). At the forefront of play policy in the UK, the Welsh Government published the world’s first play policy in 2002.  

In 2010, as part of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010, the Welsh Government placed a statutory duty on municipalities to assess and as far as is reasonably practicable, secure sufficient opportunities for children to play. This has become known as the Play Sufficiency Duty.  

Internationally, the importance of play is recognised and protected in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Article 31 of the UNCRC explicitly states that the child has the right to play. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment no. 17, which gives governments additional information and guidance on Article 31, encourages national governments to consider legislation to ensure the rights under Article 31. It advises that legislation should address the principle of sufficiency – all children should be given enough time and space to exercise their right to play. It also stresses that such legislation should recognise that creating environments that support children’s self-directed play is as important as providing facilities and opportunities for organised activities.
 

Children’s voices

The Play Sufficiency Duty recognises that respecting and upholding children’s right to play is linked to upholding other rights, including:

Article 15 (Freedom of association): Children have the right to meet together and to join groups
Article 12 (Respect for the views of the child): Children have the right to have their opinions taken into account about decisions that affect them.

Seeking children’s views on their right to play is an important part of gauging how these rights are being respected, protected and fulfilled. Over time, Play Wales has analysed surveys completed by children across Wales(3).  Through the survey, children have the opportunity to report what’s good about the play opportunities in their local area and tell us how satisfied they are about when, how and where they can play.

In the most recent survey report (2), nearly 7,000 children in Wales tell us that they want to play outdoors more often. For children under 11, play areas with swings, slides and other play equipment are very important. For older children and teenagers, streets, open ground, local woods and other informal spaces are more important.

Other engagement with children indicates that their access to outdoor space for play and enjoyment differs across Wales. For example, those living in overcrowded or temporary accommodation often have little access to spaces for playing, compounded by the limits of their accommodation(4).

Having access to well designed and welcoming spaces has positive effects on children’s health and happiness, community engagement and wellbeing, and enhancement of the local sense of community. Given the importance that children place on opportunities to play outdoors in their neighbourhoods, Play Wales welcomes a recent Welsh Government investment to improve the quality of play spaces for all children.

On International Day of Play, Play Wales celebrates the Welsh Government’s ongoing commitment to work with municipalities and partners to support the ambitions in improving opportunities to play and promote the benefits of play for children’s wellbeing. The investment recognises the need to maintain momentum by listening to children to put policy into practice.

(1):  Russell, W., Barclay, M. and Tawil, B. (2024) Playing and being well: A review of recent research into children’s play, social policy and practice, with a focus on Wales. Cardiff: Play Wales.

(2):  Dallimore, D. (2022) What children say about play in Wales. Cardiff: Play Wales.
(3):  Children in Wales (2021) Children and Young People’s Consultation on the Ministerial Play Review. Cardiff: Children in Wales.
(4):  Russell, W., Barclay, M., Tawil, B. and Derry, C. (2019) Children’s Right to Play in Wales: Six years of stories and change since the commencement of the Welsh Play Sufficiency Duty. Cardiff: Play Wales.