Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason eligibility for the Holiday Activities and Food programme is limited to children who meet the benefits-related Free School Meals criteria.

The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme provides free nutritious meals, enriching activities, and safe environments to eligible children during the school holidays. The programme is mainly aimed at children in receipt of benefits‑related free school meals, to ensure that funding is focused on the most disadvantaged. Research has shown that the school holidays can be pressure points for some families. Children from households on low incomes are more likely to experience food insecurity, social isolation, reduced physical activity, and fewer opportunities for enriching experiences during the school holidays. HAF directly responds to this by ensuring all sessions include a nutritious meal and enriching and physical activities, benefiting health, wellbeing and learning of those who attend.

In addition, local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who do not meet the eligibility criteria but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF.