The CPC has been awarded a 150,000 three-month development grant from the BLF to prepare plans for a regional support structure for the play sector and develop draft guidance for local authority areas in drawing up play strategies.
Mr Voce said, 'We welcome the grant. It should ensure there is real support for play development at regional level when the Children's Play Programme funds are allocated next year. The best way to ensure the money has the longest impact is to make sure it is spent strategically.'
But he added that there were 'concerns' in the play sector that some local authority areas may have just 'ticked off children's play' as something that the lottery money will take care of.
He said, 'It's important that all local authority areas looking to apply do not see it (the 155m) as a replacement for existing funding. It is additional funding.'
When the 155m programme for children's play was announced earlier this year, Mr Voce said that one of its aims was to 'lever in additional funding'.
He said, 'We hope that there will be a net investment in children's play that will increase to more than the 155m earmarked for England from the BLF. If the programme doesn't have a net effect of investment in children's play over and above this, in my view, it will have failed.'
Under the BLF's Children's Play Programme, local authority areas will be allocated funding in early 2006 to develop local play provision. The guidance being developed by the CPC will help them to develop cross-cutting play strategies to demonstrate how this money will be spent.
A BLF spokesperson said, 'The programme is still in development. Eighty per cent of the funding for free open-access play will be allocated to local authority areas, and this will be channelled to organisations who work locally. We are considering how to deliver the remaining 20 per cent, but it is likely to be via open competitive programmes.'
