£30m to keep parks and sports facilities open later
Saturday, February 02, 2008
He urged more councils to end the ‘no balls game’ culture and help give children and young people out-of-school sports provision by opening up local facilities such as parks, playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts for longer hours.
Some of the comments Ed Balls made include:
“We have some great sports facilities in schools. But at this time of year some young people find their local pitches are unlit and waterlogged. And even if they do function the gates are locked at sundown."
“And I’d ask all local authorities to look at the public sports facilities they already provide and make sure they are usable for as long as possible. If young people want to play sport after school we should encourage it - not lock the gates or turn off the lights."
“Of course local authorities have to make sure places are safe and secure - but floodlights can make areas safe for use and experience shows us that area which have provided out of hours sporting opportunities have seen a fall in anti-social behaviour.”
Check out his statement here.
