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'Make play priority for all departments'

Government departments must 'take up their responsibilities' and give a greater priority to children's play in their policy areas, the organisation that represents play provision in England declared last week. Speaking at a conference to mark the official launch of Play England, Adrian Voce, director of the Children's Play Council and Play England, said that there had been a 'remarkable increase' in the profile of play provision and play space in the last two years, with 'all the main parties'

Speaking at a conference to mark the official launch of Play England, Adrian Voce, director of the Children's Play Council and Play England, said that there had been a 'remarkable increase' in the profile of play provision and play space in the last two years, with 'all the main parties'

making reference to it in policy announcements or conference speeches.

In August, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published Time for Play, which set out its commitment to lead a 'more strategic, cross-departmental approach to play policy' (News, 24 August). This followed Frank Dobson's 2004 play review.

But Mr Voce said, 'It's going to need more from Government to join up these different areas of activities highlighted in Time for Play if we're going to have any impact at all. There's a limit to what DCMS can do on its own initiative, so we have to look to the Department for Communities, the Department of Health, the DfES and the Department for Transport to take up their responsibilities.'

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