Children can use playgrounds for exercise but not for socialising, Downing Street has said, as the government sought to defuse an angry row after it appeared to suggest rules on children playing outdoors were stricter than those for adults exercising. The controversy arose after a statement from the Cabinet Office suggested a child should not meet another for exercise and that they should use playgrounds only if they did not have a private garden.Adults are allowed to meet one other person outdoors for daily exercise. The prime minister’s spokesperson sought to defuse the row, saying it was acceptable for children to play outside, including in playgrounds, even if they had a garden at home. “Going to the park with the kids is not only allowed but perfectly reasonable,” he said. “We have been clear that exercise is allowed under the national restrictions. That continues to be the case, and the reason we ensured playgrounds stayed open was to ensure that children continued to use them for exercise purposes.” Asked whether the rules were different for families who have gardens, he said: “It is reasonable for any families to take their children to the park and to use playgrounds. As we’ve said previously, people should keep 2 metres apart if they’re in a circumstance where there are other people around, playgrounds being one example. They should keep that 2-metre rule. But again, we’re asking people not to go outside for socialising.” The row started after two young children were ordered home by police officers for building a snowman and told to play in their own garden – despite not having one. Downing Street said on Wednesday it was fine for children to play outside, after Tim Greany and his sons Bo, six, and Wren, eight, told BBC Newsround they had been “upset and annoyed” at the officers’ response to the playing near their home in London. There was confusion after the Cabinet Office issued a statement saying: “Playgrounds are primarily for use by children who do not have access to private outdoor space, and while parents, guardians or carers are allowed to take children to a playground for exercise, they must not socialise with other people while there.” Jeremy Hunt, the chair of the health select committee, said the advice was overly officious. “I’m in the ‘go harder and faster’ camp on Covid but it does seem over-zealous to allow two adults to exercise outdoors but not two children (who face much lower risk from Covid but probably greater mental health risks from lockdown),” he tweeted. The Tory MP Steve Baker, a key figure in the Covid Recovery Group of MPs who are demanding a swifter end to lockdown, told Sky News: “This unabashed vehemence in the expression of state power beyond the limits of the law would be comical if it were not for real. As the government succeeds in vaccinating vulnerable, incidents like this only underscore the need to reclaim our lives once and for all.”
Playing Out, a group that ordinarily encourages parents to organise play sessions for children on their streets, said it was asking the government to include play as essential exercise – one of the limited reasons people are allowed to leave the house under current legislation.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, who was recently pictured playing rugby with his children in the park, told Sky News on Thursday that the same rules applied to children and adults. “The rules are really clear. Exercise outdoor with members of your own family or one other person one to one, that’s OK. “Of course going to the park with your kids to play rugby is not only allowed but perfectly reasonable and totally fine.”