With the need for closer partnership working in mind we have established the High Peak and North Derbyshire Childrens and Young Peoples Partnership as the Play Partnership for development and monitoring of the implementation of our Play Strategy. This ensures that the links between local planning for play and the wider County strategies are clearly made.
‘Planning for Play’ goes on to recognise the strategic role that the County has in setting the context for Play within the framework of the Children and Young Peoples Plan and the Childrens Act 2004 and has established the following objective and delivery mechanism:
‘To develop high quality Play, which improves the quality of the built and natural environment, enhances the quality of life for children and the whole community and promotes pride in public spaces and green areas.’
The Children Act (2004) establishes Children’s Trusts as a way of placing the responsibility for all services for children and young people with a single formal partnership arrangement.
From April 2006, local authorities are required to produce a Children and Young People’s Plan which sets out the local vision for children and young people, a strategic analysis showing how key outcomes will be achieved, and the actions, timescales and costs involved.
It links upwards to the community strategy and downwards to other local plans and strategies, including the play strategy, to integrate the delivery of all services for children and young people in the area.
Derbyshire County Council is going to work with the Children’s Trust in Derbyshire, to participate in partnership in order to deliver its aims and objectives through five key policy statements, which are to:
High Peak Borough Council has participated in the Derbyshire Play Forum and has taken account of these objectives in preparing its own vision and objectives for the provision of children’s play opportunities in the borough.
The borough has a mix of rural and market town environments with many isolated rural communities with limited access to public transport.
| Population | 90,600 | Households | 39,171 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children, age 0 to 16 years old | 19,637 | ||
| Area | 53,915 hectares | Unemployment | 1.5 per cent |
| Ethnicity | 1.3% | Indices of Deprivation | 211 out of 354 |
Within the borough there is only one ward that falls within the top 10 per cent of most deprived wards in the Indices of Multiple Deprivation. This ward covers Gamesley, which consists of a small village with large social housing estate attached. The ward has been the subject of Single Regeneration Budget funding and improvement programmes linked to housing stock refurbishment. The borough does however suffer from rural isolation due to its geography and public transport links.