Labour's 187 broken promises on playing field sales

Schools Secretary Ed Balls and his predecessor Alan Johnson personally agreed to 19 of the sales last year.

This is in spite of repeated Government promises that playing fields would be carefully protected.

Labour promised in its 1997 manifesto to bring the "policy of forcing schools to sell off playing fields to an end".

Four years ago the Government said any future sales would have to be signed off by the Secretary of State, with the profits re-invested in educational facilities.

However, since 1998 the Government has approved of at least 187 plans to dispose of playing fields.

Since 2001 some 1,331 pieces of community and school land smaller than an acre have been sold. Because of their size, these did not require ministerial approval.

The figures threaten to overshadow the Government's announcement this Thursday of its intention to spend £225million over the next three years on 3,500 new playgrounds and 30 adventure play areas with trained supervisors.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families insisted yesterday it was "not in the business" of cutting sports facilities.

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A spokesman said the recent sales had gone ahead only at closed schools, or where land is surplus to school and community needs.

"All proceeds go back into improving outdoor facilities in the first instance," she added.

But Michael Gove, the Conservative schools spokesman, said: "It is ironic that the Government is selling off school playing fields on the eve of a campaign to get children to lead more active lives.

"The planning rules need to be changed to make it easier to set up schools and use them for regeneration.

"At the moment, the Government's whole approach doesn't protect what we have, or allow for expansion where it's needed."

Margaret Morrissey, of the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, said: "We know that they are selling off playing fields.

"What happened to the commitment that they were going to stop the sales? We are doing our children a terrible injustice.

"We are blaming them for not playing out but we are not giving them the provision to do it."

The Fields in Trust charity, which campaigns to protect green spaces, says the threat to playing fields is still "very real" and 53 sites across England are under threat.

But Education minister Jim Knight said: "It's a myth. We have increased funding for schools by 87 per cent since 1997.

"Schools need to approach the Department if they want to sell off a playing field, and are only given approval if they can provide games elsewhere."