Culture secretary Tessa Jowell has said that more than £200m of lottery money is to be invested in children’s play areas following a review conducted by MP Frank Dobson acknowledging how important play is to children’s development.

She said she ‘fully expected’ the lottery to take forward the recommendations made in the review, which highlighted the contribution ‘effective play’ makes towards promoting physical activity, tackling obesity and reducing anti-social behaviour.

“We feel more can be achieved for play by allowing lottery distributors to decide on how this money is spent and allowing them the freedom to give money to a range of projects,” she said.