Issue - meetings

(a)     That the Committee is reassured that children and young people in Flintshire had the opportunity to access and benefit from a range of valuable activities over the summer holidays through the Flintshire Playschemes and Summer of Fun Programme; and

(b)     That the Committee commend the significant effort by Council Officers and Officers in key partner organisations in delivering the successful programmes quickly and safely, particularly within challenging timescales.

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) presented the report which provided details of how both the Summer Playschemes and Summer of Fun were delivered in Flintshire.  This year was the 26^th year that the Council had delivered the Flintshire Summer Playscheme programme and the Chief Officer thanked Mrs. Janet Roberts (Play Development Officer) and team of play workers who had ensured that the programmes were well supported again in 2021.  

The Chief Officer explained that in June 2021 the Welsh Government (WG) launched its ‘Summer of Fun’ programme which had been jointly developed with the Children’s Commissioner for Wales (CCfW) and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA).  WG had made £5m available across Wales with Flintshire receiving an allocation of £218,000 to deliver a ‘Summer of Fun’ for children and young people to help to alleviate some of the negative impacts of the necessary restrictions of COVID-19.  WG had stipulated who should be targeted by this programme and she provided information on the list of activities provided which included activities for older teenage children.  The commitment from the team had been excellent and officers were in the process of providing feedback to WG who would be preparing an evaluation report.  Due to the success of the Summer of Fun programme WG had continued to fund this and were now planning the Winter of Well-being Programme to run from November to March with a particular focus on the  on the February half term.

The Chief Officer reported that the Play Development Officer was currently collating feedback from parents and children on the Programme and suggested that once feedback had been received, that this be circulated to the Committee.

The Chairman thanked the Chief Officer for the report and commended the work carried out to provide the opportunity to children and welcomed the commitment given to provide a Winter of Well-being Programme.  The Leader of the Council echoed the comments made by the Chairman and also thanked the Town and Community Councils for their continued contribution to ensure the Programmes continued to be provided.

Councillor Tudor Jones queried the number of Welsh first language sites as the number of sites differed within the report.  The Chief Officer agreed to check this and report back to Councillor Jones following the meeting.  

The recommendations, as outlined within the report, were moved and seconded by Councillor David Mackie and Councillor Joe Johnson.

RESOLVED:

(a)     That the Committee is reassured that children and young people in Flintshire had the opportunity to access and benefit from a range of valuable activities over the summer holidays through the Flintshire Playschemes and Summer of Fun Programme; and

(b)     That the Committee commend the significant effort by Council Officers and Officers in key partner organisations in delivering the successful programmes quickly and safely, particularly within challenging timescales.