Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the eligibility criteria for the Holiday Activities and Food programme to include all children living in poverty.

The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme is specifically targeted at children and families facing the greatest levels of disadvantage. We are spending more than £200 million a year to provide free nutritious meals, enriching activities, and safe environments to eligible children during school holidays. This benefits their health, wellbeing and readiness to learn, with more than 500,000 children benefitting from HAF over the last year.

To ensure HAF reaches as many children who need it as possible, local authorities may also use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised places to children who do not meet the eligibility criteria but who the local authority believe 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.