Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Holiday Activities Fund on children living in poverty.

The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and giving every child the best start in life. This is why we have established a new cross-government taskforce to develop an ambitious strategy to tackle the child poverty crisis.

During this summer, the government will be providing more than three million holiday club places through the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme, supporting children who are living in poverty to access free, healthy meals and enriching activities.

An independent evaluation of HAF from 2021 showed that attending HAF clubs can have a positive impact on children and young people living in poverty. The evaluation highlights that HAF clubs work best when they provide consistent and easily accessible enrichment activities, when they offer healthy food, and when they involve children and parents in meal preparation.

As part of the next spending review, the department will consider the impact of the programme and how the programme could continue to support children living in poverty.