Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reductions in the level of funding for holiday activities and food programmes on children from lower-income backgrounds.

The department invests in free holiday club places for children in low-income families, with all 153 local authorities in England delivering in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays.

The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme is delivered by local authorities to provide healthy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning.

As well as food provision, HAF lets children and young people continue their development outside of term time in a safe environment and opens opportunities for parents on low incomes to work extra shifts and support their families.

Based on reporting from local authorities, over Summer 2024, local authorities reported that over 628,000 children and young people attended the HAF programme. Of these participating children, over 511,000 were funded directly by the HAF programme and over 433,000 were receiving benefits-related free school meals.

Over Easter 2024, local authorities reported that over 377,000 children attended the programme, of which over 324,000 were funded directly by the HAF programme and over 276,000 were receiving benefits-related free school meals.

Over Christmas 2024, local authorities reported that over 270,000 children attended the programme, of which over 250,000 were funded directly by the HAF programme and over 215,000 were receiving benefits-related free school meals.