Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to prevent hunger among children whose families are subject to the two-child benefit cap during the school summer holidays.

The Department is providing over £200 million of funding per year for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, which provides food and activities for disadvantaged children in England for four weeks during summer, and one week each at Christmas and Easter. The programme provides heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and education. Over summer 2022, the HAF programme reached around 600,000 children across England, including 475,000 children eligible for free school meals across England. As in previous years, Local Authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of benefits related free school meals but who the Local Authority believe could benefit from the HAF programme, such as other vulnerable children. This could include, where appropriate, providing places at HAF clubs that support working families.

For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including the Barnett formula impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is in addition to funding already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which Local Authorities will use to help households with the cost of essentials.

Overall, the Government is providing total support of over £94 billion over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of living.