Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of expanding the automatic eligibility criteria for the Holiday Activities and Food programme to include all care-experienced children, including those who are looked after, in kinship care arrangements, or adopted.

The government recognises that care-experienced children, including children who are looked after, living in kinship care or adopted, can face additional challenges.

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. The programme is specifically targeted at children eligible for free school meals from households with annual earnings of £7,400 or less, focussing on families facing the greatest levels of disadvantage.

Local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised places to children who do not meet the eligibility criteria but could benefit from HAF, in line with local needs and priorities such as care-experienced children.

The government is also strengthening support for care-experienced children through wider reforms, including enhanced support for children in kinship care, extension of the Virtual School Head role and investment in kinship care support.