Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2022 to Question 111600 on Holiday Activities and Food Programme, how much and what proportion of the funding allocated to each local authority was spent on (a) administration, (b) publicity and marketing, (c) activities, (d) transport, (e) staffing, (f) food (g) club provisions and (h) other expenses in the financial year2021-22.

The department does not hold data for the breakdowns requested. The closest available information is published in the 2021 evaluation of the programme, published in March 2022, which provides analysis of local authority expenditure on the programme for the Easter and Summer holidays. The evaluation report indicates that 92% of the funding was spent on direct delivery of the programme including face-to-face holiday club provision, food costs, activity costs, staffing costs, and transport costs. The remaining 8% was spent on the administration of the programme by local authorities. This report can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1065868/Evaluation_of_the_2021_holiday_activities_and_food_programme.pdf.

Our Holiday Activities and Food programme grant letter sets requirements for local authorities in relation to programme expenditure. It specifies that up to 10% of an authority’s funding allocation may be spent on programme administration, with the remaining 90% being spent on the direct delivery of free places for eligible children. Local authorities must confirm through an annual Certificate of Expenditure that the funding has been properly expended. The department does not specify how much local authorities should spend on food, activities, staff and transport as local circumstances will vary.