Children's Play Provision 2007/08

Dear Jan

RFI - 1557

Thank you for your request for information received on 20th April 2009.
I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act
2000 I have passed your request to relevant colleagues, and we will
respond to your request within 20 working days of receipt.

Regards,

Gemma

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Dear Jan,

Thank you for your request for information received on 19 April 2009. I am still waiting for the answer to one of your questions, but I thought I would send you the information I have, and will forward on the outstanding figure when it has been passed to me.

Total expenditure on Leisure and Recreation in 2007/08 = £11,505,308. This includes Sports Centres and Pools, Sports Development, Community Facilities and Parks and Countryside Services. This figure includes revenue and capital expenditure.

Within the Leisure and Recreation figure, £342,579 was specifically identified against Playground Maintenance and Playground Development. These are the only figures that can be specifically attributable to under-16s.

Big Lottery / Central Govt funding:
£45k Revenue for Refugees and Asylum Seekers 7
£168,196 Capital funded from Heritage Lottery for Ouseburn Parks Project.

The ONS 2007 mid-year estimate for the city's total population was 271,600.

The ONS 2007 mid-year estimate for the city's population, aged under-16 was 45,600.

I don't have the figure for proportion of use of leisure centres, etc yet, but will forward it onto you as soon as possible.

Within Libraries 25.3% of active borrowers were under 16 years old.

I am advised that play and youth are both covered by S.508 of the Education Act.
Our Play and Youth section has been moved from one Directorate to another for some time but has always been deemed a single service until this year - when it was split as part of Integrated Youth developments.

Below are figures for Play and Youth for the years for which figures are available:

Actual spend on play & youth
2007-8 £3.464m
2006-7 £3.332m
2005-6 £3.406m
2004-5 £3.402m

Including grants to voluntary orgs
2007-8 £0.181m
2006-7 £0.177m
2005-6 £0.200m
2004-5 £0.132m

If you are unhappy with the information supplied you can ask for an internal review of our decision. Please send details of your request for review to the following address:

Corporate Information Governance Officer
Chief Executive's Office
Civic Centre
Barras Bridge
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE99 2BN
Telephone: 0191 211 6644
E-mail: [Newcastle upon Tyne City Council request email]

If you are still unhappy with how the Council has handled your request you can write to the Information Commissioner asking for an assessment to be made. Contact details are as follows:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545745
E-mail: [email address]

Regards,

Peter Dinsdale
FOI & Data Protection Officer
0191 277 7038 ext 27038

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Dear Jan,

Further to this, I now have a figure for the proportion use of leisure centres and recreation facilities by children aged under 16. Approximately 20% of usage was by under-16s.

This figure is an approximate figure that has been derived from Leisure Services' data which primarily relates to swimming, combined with estimated usage in respect of court and facility usage which is not specifically recorded as a junior admission but classed as an individual hire.

I hope this is of use to you.

Regards,

Peter Dinsdale
FOI & Data Protection Officer
0191 277 7038 ext 27038

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