Scottish Government investment into play parks: FOI release

Information requested

• What is the total investment made by the Scottish Government (through local authorities) to provide new, or upgrade, playparks in Scotland in 2024 and 2023?
• How many playparks are there in Scotland and how does this compare to last year?

Response

Question 1 - What is the total investment made by the Scottish Government (through local authorities) to provide new, or upgrade, playparks in Scotland in 2024 and 2023?

The Scottish Government has invested £60 million since 2021 to renew play parks in Scotland, delivering on our 2021 Programme for Government commitment. In 2023/24, the Scottish Government provided £10 million funding to local authorities and in 2024/25 £15 million funding.

Question 2 - How many playparks are there in Scotland and how does this compare to last year?

In 2023/24, local authorities reported there were 4,516 play parks that were eligible for this funding. Play parks eligible for this funding are local authority owned, managed or maintained sites, designated for play, which are free to access and open to all. Play parks in private ownership, those that require an entry fee or those only available to specific groups / with conditions for entry are outwith scope of this funding.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The Scottish Government does not hold the total number of play parks in Scotland which include play parks outwith the scope of the play park funding. Furthermore, at the time of responding, the Scottish Government had not received all of the local authority play park reports for 2024/25 to compare figures to the previous year.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.