Safety in Children's Playgrounds (Hansard, 15 March 1989)

§ Mr. Robert G. Hughes (Harrow, West)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to introduce compulsory safety standards for equipment, layout and surface in children's playgrounds. Every parent in the country and anyone who has ever taken a child to a playground knows precisely why the Bill is necessary. They also know that the problems can be substantially solved. They know that in many playgrounds in Britain their children are at risk. The playground to which I take my daughter is dangerous. When I say that it is dangerous, I mean that it has broken tarmac, pieces of metal sticking out of the tarmac and deplorable standards of maintenance.

The Consumers Association says that this matter is one of the most important concerns of its members. It is an important concern of all parents in this country.

A playground is different from any other place where children might choose to play because it sends out signals of safety. The National Playing Fields Association says that the presence of equipment acts as a signal or signpost saying, "Come in, you can play safely here." Therefore, where play equipment is provided there is a duty of care upon the people providing that equipment to ensure that it is safe. Regrettably, that is not the case now.

I am certain that hon. Members of all parties care about safety in children's playgrounds and wish to see the highest possible standards. Much progress on setting the standards has been made over the past few years and British standard 5696 gives comprehensive guidance on the design and layout of playground equipment. A new British standard awaiting publication sets out standards for impact-absorbing surfaces. Those documents are commendable, and when they are in operation they make playgrounds safer. The problem is that the British standards are not usually implemented.

Over a year ago the Consumers Association inspected 139 playgrounds in three representative areas. It records that there has been some improvement over the 12 years since its previous survey. However, it found that our children's playgrounds are not as safe as they should be. Seven out of 10 playgrounds have hard surfaces under swings, climbing frames and slides. More than one third have badly placed equipment such as swings placed in the entrance to the playground or squashed between climbing frames. That means that children are at risk from colliding with equipment or each other. In two of the three areas inspected, half the swings, roundabouts and other equipment needed attention. In the other area, that applied to one third.

The estimates of the number of accidents caused in our playgrounds vary. The Consumers Association estimated that last year 250,000 incidents occurred in playgrounds causing injuries of all types. Clearly there is some concern in Government, and the Department of Trade and Industry has been collecting statistics. I understand that, when the statistics are published next month, they will show that each year in playgrounds there are 70,000 accidents sufficiently serious to require attendance at hospital.

The Department responsible for play is not the Department of Trade and Industry, but the Department of the Environment. It is of some significance that, when I 415 spoke to officials yesterday, they told me that they were unaware that the Department of Trade and Industry was collecting statistics. Sadly, the concern of the Department of Trade and Industry does not appear to be shared by the Department of the Environment. I find that unbelievable.

I find it unbelievable that officials at the Department of the Environment tell me that there is no hard evidence about accidents or types of accidents and that everything they see and hear is anecdotal. That is especially difficult to believe if one looks at Occasional Paper 2/76, "Children's playgrounds", published by the Department of the Environment. I shall read the opening words: Nobody knows how many accidents there are in children's playgrounds—but there may be as many as 150,000 a year treated by doctors and hospitals. It seems that the Department knows that there is a problem, but does not want to do anything about it.

I have one request to make of an audience wider than this House. I ask people to provide the Department of the Environment with the information that it claims it does not have.

§ Mr. Hughes

I shall come on to money in a minute.

I ask people to provide the Department of the Environment, either through me or their Member of Parliament, with information about accidents in playgrounds. Let us find out about the record and the hard evidence and put on pressure to ensure that the Bill is passed.

The time scale for introducing the Bill must be as short as possible, but I recognise that a substantial amount of money is involved in implementing safe surfaces and proper layouts in playgrounds. I recognise that money will have to be found over a period, so the Bill will set out a schedule under which the Secretary of State for the Environment will consult and produce a statutory code of practice, probably similar to the existing British standard and the draft British standard. The code of practice will be 416 compulsory for new playgrounds and over five years, I suggest, compulsory in all playgrounds. I do not under-estimate the fact that money is needed to back up this proposal, but that money must be made available.

I want to thank the people who have helped me to put together the information for the Bill. Apart from a number of hon. Members of all parties, I want to thank the National Playing Fields Association, the Consumers Association, Mr. Graham Tipp, who wrote the draft British standard, the playground equipment manufacturers and the Association of Play Industries. They have given me great help and encouragement. I also want to thank the many hundreds of parents who have written to me and other hon. Members expressing their concern about this matter. I believe that the Bill already commends itself to the nation. It has wide, all-party support, and I commend it to the House.