The Assistant Director (Education and Skills) has decided to allocate funding for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme in West Sussex for the upcoming holidays.

URL: https://westsussex.moderngov.co.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=1991

Decision Maker: Assistant Director (Education and Skills) (Claire Hayes)

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: Yes

Purpose: The Department for Education (DfE) have provided every local authority in England funding to coordinate free holiday provision, including healthy food and enriching activities for children eligible for benefits related free school meals (FSM).  Referred to as the Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) the funding provided is to facilitate provision for the Easter, summer and Christmas Holidays. The County Council has an allocation of £1,862,380 for the delivery of the 2024-25 HAF programme.   Expressions of Interest (EOI) have been received from a range of organisations in West Sussex to provide activities and food during the Easter, summer and Christmas holiday periods. Following an evaluation of these EOI a range of organisations were awarded funding for one week of the Easter holidays; this resulted in the grant expenditure to providers of £320,547.04.   As the provision for the summer holidays covers a 4-week period this will result in expenditure of over £500k, requiring a key decision. This report seeks approval to distribute the funding to organisations whose offer has met the required criteria and outlines the proposed arrangements for the remainder of the funding allocation the County Council will receive.

Content: The Department for Education (DfE) have provided every local authority in England funding to coordinate free holiday provision, including healthy food and enriching activities for children eligible for benefits related free school meals (FSM).  Referred to as the Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) the funding provided is to facilitate provision for the Easter, summer and Christmas Holidays. The County Council has an allocation of £1,862,380 for the delivery of the 2024-25 HAF programme.   Expressions of Interest (EOI) have been received from a range of organisations in West Sussex to provide activities and food during the Easter, summer and Christmas holiday periods. Following an evaluation of these EOI a range of organisations were awarded funding for one week of the Easter holidays; this resulted in the grant expenditure to providers of £320,547.04.   As the provision for the summer holidays covers a 4-week period this will result in expenditure of over £500k, requiring a key decision. This report seeks approval to distribute the funding to organisations whose offer has met the required criteria and outlines the proposed arrangements for the remainder of the funding allocation the County Council will receive. The Assistant Director (Education and Skills) has approved:- (1) The award of Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme summer grants to the organisations identified in Appendix A up to a total value of £1,087,862. (2) The allocation of further HAF funds up to a value of £25,000 to assist providers with delivering the food offer in specific circumstances and to ensure inclusivity for children with higher needs as described in paragraph 2.4 of the report. (3)The allocation of HAF funds to an anticipated value of £270,000 to providers for a programme for the Christmas holiday period including the opportunity to provide some whole family sessions. None declared

Date of Decision: July 29, 2024