Guidance

Holiday activities and food programme

Guidance for local authorities that will receive funding to deliver the Holiday Activities and Food programme

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 16 December 2020
• Last updated: 17 December 2025 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

Holiday activities and food programme 2026 to 2027

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Holiday activities and food programme 2025 to 2026

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Details

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

This guidance for local authorities sets out:

• the aims and objectives of the programme
• requirements for programme delivery, including minimum expectations for provision
• how funding should be used
• information to support effective delivery and use of funding

Detailed grant allocations for the Holiday Activities and Food programme are available.

Published 16 December 2020

Last updated 17 December 2025 + show all updates

1. 17 December 2025

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

2. 10 March 2025

   Added 'Holiday activities and food programme 2025' and 'Holiday activities and food programme 2025: S31 grant determination letter'.

3. 11 March 2024

   Added 'Holiday activities and food programme 2024' and 'Holiday activities and food programme 2024: S31 grant determination letter' to page.

4. 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.

5. 28 January 2022

   Added clarification on when an additional HAF week can take place in 'Holiday activities and food programme 2022'.

6. 22 December 2021

   Updated with grant determination letter and information for 2022.

7. 14 July 2021

   Updated grant determination letter following the allocation of the contingency fund.

8. 7 June 2021

   Updated payment schedule and added information on COVID-19 for summer 2021 in 'Holiday activities and food programme 2021'.

9. 27 April 2021

   Added information on safeguarding requirements and a link to allergies guidance for schools.

10. 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.

11. 16 December 2020

    First published.