Regulations are on the way for the Island’s unmonitored summer camps, according to Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, the Minister of Community, Culture and Sports.

In the meantime, the minister said, a “safe camp committee” is issuing parents with a “top ten things you should ask before sending your child to camp”.

The group was set up to inform parents and furnish camp operators with best practice guidelines, Ms Gordon-Pamplin said. With the advent of summer, concerns over the lack of regulation for camps have been raised by groups such as the Coalition for the Protection of Children.

The list of questions for parents to ask is to be posted on the safe camp committee’s Facebook page.

In the meantime, when asked about the implementation of regulations, the minister replied: “When there are deficiencies in our system we address them. If regulations have been missing, they have been missing for a while — I don’t believe in pointing fingers; I believe in fixing problems.” She said regulations should be in place before the next camping season.

A public awareness campaign is in store, she added, as well as workshops on running camps to be offered by Family Centre, and further policy developments for camps.