Guidance

Holiday activities and food programme

Guidance~~Information~~ for local authorities that will receive funding to deliver~~support~~ ~~disadvantaged~~ ~~children~~ ~~during~~ the Holiday~~Easter,~~ Activities~~summer~~ and Food~~Christmas~~ programme ~~holidays.~~

From:: Department for Education
Published: 16 December 2020
Last updated: 1710 December~~March~~ 2025 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

Holiday activities and food programme 20262025

~~HTML~~

Holiday toactivities 2027and food programme 2025: S31 grant determination letter

~~PDF~~, ~~260~~ KB, 15 ~~pages~~

Holiday activities and food programme 2024

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Holiday activities and food programme 2024: S31 grant determination letter

~~PDF~~, ~~256~~ KB, 14 ~~pages~~

Holiday activities and food programme 20252023

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toHoliday 2026activities and food programme 2023: S31 grant determination letter

~~PDF~~, ~~229~~ KB, 15 ~~pages~~

Holiday activities and food programme 2022

HTML

Holiday activities and food programme 2022: S31 grant determination letter

~~PDF~~, ~~188~~ KB, 15 ~~pages~~

Details

The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme provides~~will~~ ~~provide~~ grant funding to local authorities to co-ordinate free holiday provision for eligible children.

This guidance for local authorities sets out:~~explains:~~

the aims and objectives of the programme
requirements~~what~~ for~~the~~ programme~~funding~~ delivery,~~covers~~

~~how~~ including~~the~~ minimum~~funding~~ expectations~~will~~ forbe provision~~allocated~~

~~The~~ ~~grant~~ ~~determination~~ ~~letter:~~

how~~sets~~ funding~~out~~ should~~payments~~ be~~for~~ used~~the~~ ~~financial~~ ~~year~~
information~~includes~~ to~~supporting~~ support~~guidance~~ effective~~outlining~~ delivery~~how~~ andwe ~~intend~~ ~~local~~ ~~authorities~~ to use of~~the~~ funding

Detailed~~The~~ grant~~Secretary~~ allocationsof ~~State~~ for the~~Education~~ Holiday~~makes~~ Activities~~grant~~ and~~determinations~~ Food~~under~~ programme~~section~~ are31 available.of ~~the~~ ~~Local~~ ~~Government~~ ~~Act~~ ~~2003~~.

Published 16 December 2020

Last updated 1710 December~~March~~ 2025 ~~+ show~~ hide all updates" href="#full-history">+ show all updates

17 December 2025
Added information for the Holiday Activities and Food programme 2026 to 2027.

10 March 2025
Added 'Holiday activities and food programme 2025' and 'Holiday activities and food programme 2025: S31 grant determination letter'.
11 March 2024
Added 'Holiday activities and food programme 2024' and 'Holiday activities and food programme 2024: S31 grant determination letter' to page.
22 December 2022
Added 'Holiday activities and food programme 2023' and 'Holiday activities and food programme 2023: S31 grant determination letter' to page. The guidance on the page has been updated to reflect this addition.
28 January 2022
Added clarification on when an additional HAF week can take place in 'Holiday activities and food programme 2022'.
22 December 2021
Updated with grant determination letter and information for 2022.
14 July 2021
Updated grant determination letter following the allocation of the contingency fund.
7 June 2021
Updated payment schedule and added information on COVID-19 for summer 2021 in 'Holiday activities and food programme 2021'.
27 April 2021
Added information on safeguarding requirements and a link to allergies guidance for schools.
17 March 2021
Added the 'Holiday activities and food programme 2021: S31 grant determination letter'. Updated the guidance to include updated information on funding and new sections on payments and reporting, support for local authorities, standards for holiday provision and Ofsted registration.
16 December 2020
First published.

Holiday activities and food programme

Applies to England

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