Playground Priory Park, Reigate
Dear Reigate and Banstead Borough Council,
Recently the playground at Priory Park was "forced to close." The decision was taken on account of over-crowding with parents "ignoring the guidance of 40 people maximum." It also transpires that the playground in question "have been monitored."
All items in quotation marks above have been extracted from comment made by a Reigate and Banstead Councillor and in the public domain 21st Nov 2020.
In light of this decision, can the following information be provided which would be in the public interest:
(1) Comment "the playgrounds have been monitored" suggests there to have been a monitoring process prior to closure weekend of 21st Nov, which has either been ineffective or suspended (or both).
(a) Please can you publish details of this monitoring process insofar as what Committee of the Council approved budget/costs for monitoring. Also can you include Job Description, Hours of Operation, Duties, Escalation/Management Reporting Process, First Aid/Medical Qualifications required by those holding the position of monitor
(b) When monitoring commenced
(c) When (if applicable) monitoring, ceased
(d) Who is/was in overall control of the monitoring process. It is assumed the decision to close the playground was an executive decision, agreed on by RBBC Executive Committee, can you advise when this committee made the decision to close the playground and publish minutes of said committee meeting. The playground closure was not as I am aware brought up at the RBBC Executive Committee Meeting 19th Nov.
(2) Comment "ignoring the guidance of 40 people maximum" lends itself to suggestion of local residents being classed as ignorant and it might be helpful if guidance was made available to the public in regards of the "40 people maximum." With regret, it is not easily accessible. To that end:
(e) Please can you publish the "guidance" - respectfully I would request a response of "please refer to the Council's web site" as insufficient and a physical tangible document is requested.
(f) Please can you publish the risk assessment carried out by Reigate and Banstead Council with rational as to why "40 people maximum" was decided (as opposed to for example 20, or 50) - again, a physical tangible document is requested.
(g) Might there be an opportunity for evidence to be provided that parents were as a matter of fact "ignoring the guidance" rather than actually being unaware of the "guidance."
With many thanks and warmest regards
Yours faithfully,
Mr M P Hay
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Reference: FOI-275697738
Date of request: 23/11/2020
Title of request: Playground Priory Park, Reigate
Dear M P Hay,
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Information Officer
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council
Telephone: 01737 276000
Web: [2]www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk
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Reference: FOI-275697738
Date of request: 23/11/2020
Title of request: Playground Priory Park, Reigate
Dear M P Hay,
Thank you for contacting us. Please find below our response:
(1) (a) Monitoring of play areas is undertaken by existing Council staff,
who are considered competent in their capacities to be able to report
against criteria set out in Public Health England’s guidance relating to
the management of outdoor play areas. This was agreed by the Council’s
Incident Management Team in response to the onset of the pandemic and the
associated impacts on Council services.
(b) The monitoring process was introduced as part of an operational
response resulting from the issuance of Public Health England’s (PHE)
guidance relating to the management of outdoor play areas, first issued in
July 2020.
(c) Monitoring continues, and will be reviewed periodically, and also upon
any changes to the prevailing Government guidance.
(d) The decision to monitor play areas was recommended internally as part
of the Council’s response to the issuance of the associated Government
Guidance, and subsequently approved by the Council’s Incident Management
Team – of which the Leader of the Council is a member.
Any issues resulting from the monitoring process are considered and
subsequently recommended for decision by the Incident Management Team.
This is the process which ultimately led to the Priory Park play area
closing. The closure of the play area was deemed appropriate and in the
interests of both the users themselves and the wider public, to help
mitigate the spread of the virus.
(2) (e) The guidance cited is that of Public Health England’s, relating to
the safe management of outdoor play areas, which was last updated on 1
December 2020 and can be found here:
[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
(f) In response to the issued PHE guidance, all operators and managers of
play areas were required to quantify capacity limits on play equipment to
ensure that social distancing could be maintained whilst in use. As such,
these were determined through quantification of minimum distances that
could be maintained between users on equipment, in consultation with the
equipment manufacturers.
(g) As part of the measures requiring implementation prior to the play
areas being deemed safe and appropriate for re-opening, conspicuous
signage and banners were erected around our sites to ensure that users
were aware of the safety measures to be followed. These included reminders
to maintain social distancing and to ensure regular hand sanitisation is
carried out. In addition, capacity limits were displayed on individual
pieces of play equipment, as per the PHE guidance.
It is with the above in mind, coupled with National campaign messaging
that we consider it unlikely that those observed ignoring the guidance
could be unaware of it. CCTV footage captured of the Priory Park play area
during the periods of monitoring confirms that Government guidance was not
being followed by users.
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Regards
Information Officer
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council
Telephone: 01737 276000
Web: [4]www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk
Follow us on twitter @reigatebanstead
References
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2. mailto:[Reigate and Banstead Borough Council request email]
3. Information Commissioner's Office
https://ico.org.uk/
4. http://www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/
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