Holiday Activities and Food Programme
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding the eligibility criteria of the Holiday Activities and Food programme to include all pupils eligible for means-tested free school meals.
Answered by Department for Education
The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, backed by over £600 million of funding for the next three years, provides free nutritious meals, enriching activities, and safe environments to eligible children during the school holidays. This benefits their health, wellbeing and readiness to learn, with more than 500,000 children benefitting from HAF over the last year.
The programme is focussed on ensuring support for families facing the greatest levels of disadvantage and therefore is targeted primarily at children eligible for free school meals from households receiving Universal Credit with annual earnings of £7,400 or less (‘targeted FSM’).
However, local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised places to children who do not meet these criteria, but who could benefit from HAF.
HAF sits alongside wider support for low-income families, including the expansion of free school meals, free breakfast clubs, and broader action through the child poverty strategy.
The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme is kept under review, to ensure that it continues to meet its objectives and deliver value for money.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →