The Government released new school playing field guidance on Friday, alleviating concerns that schools will no longer have to supply a minimum amount of outdoor space for children to play sport.
The new guidance was drawn up in reaction to recommendations made by the Sport and Recreation Alliance and other interested parties.
However, the guidance still does not address serious concerns over the protection of playing fields at the growing number of academies and free schools.
The Alliance was concerned that the Government’s new regulations, taking effect from 31 October, would no longer be robust enough to protect against existing school playing field facilities being sold off.
Last year, the Alliance responded to the Government consultation stating that the new regulations, if unsupported by strong guidance, would result in erosion of school playing field land.
But the new supplementary guidance now provides clearer and more prescriptive detail to ensure that minimum area requirements still need to be met if a grant-maintained school wishes to sell off its playing field land.
Andy Reed, chair of the Sport and Recreation Alliance said:
“We are satisfied as much as we can be at this stage that the guidance maintains strict controls on the sale of existing school playing fields on public land. A school will still need to show that it has sufficient outdoor space to satisfy the needs of the pupils and that it will prioritise income from any sale to reinvest in new sports facilities. The Secretary of State must still approve all sales of playing field land and should only do so if these criteria have been met.
“The independent panel will still be able to advise against the sale of playing field land in the same process that was in place before the new regulations were introduced. Schools will still need to legitimately say that they have land that is surplus to the minimum area requirements or that a like-for-like replacement of its sports facilities can be provided before the panel will approve them.
“But whether or not the Secretary of State acts on our recommendations is a different matter. If the minister continues to ignore the panel’s recommendations, the role that the panel plays in preventing the erosion in the number of school playing fields in this country is at serious risk of becoming redundant.
“The Government also needs to clarify its position on playing field provision for emerging academies and free schools. We believe that the protection of their facilities is currently in grave danger as they are not being subjected to the same level of scrutiny from the independent panel.
“New academies and free schools may be being built on private land but they are still being funded by the government via the public purse. We strongly believe that every child in this country is entitled to easy access of decent school playing fields and sports facilities, regardless of whether that school is under local authority or direct government control.”
For media enquiries contact the Aliance's communciations officer Libby Jellie on 020 7976 3933.
