Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of the funding allocated to each local authority for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme 2022 has been spent on (a) administration, (b) publicity and marketing, (c) organisations asked to deliver activities and (d) food.

The department is investing over £200 million a year in the holiday activities and food programme. This provides free holiday club places with enriching activities and healthy meals to children from low-income families. It is delivered through grants to local authorities, and the clubs are available in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays.

Local authorities are required to follow the specification in the programme’s grant determination letter, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1042274/Grant_determination_letter_-_HAF_2022_Final.pdf.

This states that authorities can spend up to a maximum of 10% of their funding allocation on administration costs.

The department’s delivery for the 2022/23 financial year is not yet complete, as provision will continue during the Christmas holidays. After the end of the 2022/23 financial year, local authorities must confirm through an annual Certificate of Expenditure that the funding has been properly expended. Authorities must also provide an annual report after the financial year ends, including final information on expenditure.

As delivery in 2022 is still ongoing, the department is not in a position to collate or share breakdowns showing local authority expenditure for this full period on (a) administration, (b) publicity and marketing, (c) organisations asked to deliver activities and (d) food. However, there is relevant analysis of local expenditure in the external evaluation of the programme in summer 2021. The evaluation report can be found 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.

This indicated 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 transports costs. The remaining 8% was spent on the administration of the programme by local authorities.