What Is the Holiday Activity & Food Programme? A Complete Guide for Local Authorities

The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme is a Department for Education (DfE) funded initiative that requires all 153 local authorities in England to coordinate free holiday provision — including enriching activities and healthy meals — for children eligible for benefits-related free school meals. This guide covers everything local authorities need to know about running an effective HAF programme, from funding and eligibility through to DfE reporting and provider management.

What you'll learn: What the HAF programme is, who it serves, and how local authorities are expected to deliver it under DfE guidance.

Key challenges: The operational hurdles that HAF coordinators face — including FSM eligibility checking, provider onboarding, attendance tracking, and statutory reporting — and how modern software can help.

In practice: How councils like Camden, Islington, and East Riding use Plinth to streamline their entire HAF delivery.

TL;DR — What Is HAF?

The HAF programme provides DfE funding to all 153 local authorities in England to deliver free holiday clubs during Easter, summer, and Christmas for children on benefits-related free school meals. With approximately 2 million children eligible for FSM across England, HAF is one of the largest holiday provision programmes in the country. Local authorities must coordinate activity providers, verify FSM eligibility, track attendance, and report data back to the DfE — including through the Q36 attendance return and Q38 enrichment activities return. Since becoming an established annual programme in 2022, HAF has received over £200 million per year in central government funding.

The Origins of HAF

The Holiday Activities and Food programme grew out of mounting evidence that school holidays create a gap in support for disadvantaged children. Research consistently showed that children from low-income families were more likely to experience hunger, social isolation, and learning loss during the holidays.

The pilot phase (2018–2020): The DfE initially funded HAF as a pilot in a small number of local authority areas, testing different delivery models and gathering evidence on what worked. These pilots demonstrated that coordinated holiday provision could reach significant numbers of children and deliver measurable benefits.

National rollout (2021): Following the success of the pilots and increased public attention on child food poverty — amplified by Marcus Rashford's campaigning — the government committed £220 million to roll HAF out to all 153 upper-tier local authorities in England.

Established programme (2022 onwards): HAF was placed on a more permanent footing, with annual funding continuing at over £200 million. The programme became an established part of the DfE's approach to tackling holiday hunger and ensuring disadvantaged children have access to enriching activities year-round.

Today, HAF is one of the most significant government investments in children's holiday provision, reaching hundreds of thousands of children each year across every local authority area in England.

Who Is Eligible for HAF?

HAF provision is primarily targeted at children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals (FSM). Understanding eligibility is crucial for local authorities, as incorrect checking can lead to ineligible children attending or eligible children being turned away.

Benefits-related FSM: Children qualify if their parent or carer receives qualifying benefits including Universal Credit (with a net earned income below £7,400 per year), Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, or income-related Employment and Support Allowance. Approximately 2 million children in England are eligible for benefits-related FSM.

Transitional protections: Children who were eligible for FSM before the rollout of Universal Credit continue to be protected — they retain their eligibility even if their family's circumstances change, until the end of their current phase of education.

The 15% flexibility: Local authorities can use up to 15% of their HAF funding to support children who are not eligible for FSM but who the authority considers could benefit from HAF provision. This is intended to cover children in vulnerable circumstances such as those with a social worker, young carers, or children from families experiencing financial hardship who do not meet the FSM threshold.

Checking eligibility: Local authorities must verify FSM eligibility before or during the booking process. This can be done through the DfE's Eligibility Checking Service (ECS), through cross-referencing with school census data, or through integration with local benefits systems. Many authorities still rely on manual spreadsheet checks, which is time-consuming and error-prone — modern platforms like Plinth can automate this process entirely.

Getting eligibility checking right is essential: it ensures that funding reaches the children who need it most and that DfE reporting is accurate.

What HAF Must Deliver

The DfE sets clear expectations for what HAF provision should include. Local authorities must ensure their programmes meet these standards across all holiday periods.

Activity Requirements

Enriching activities: HAF clubs must provide activities that are fun, enriching, and help children develop new skills. The DfE specifically requires a mix of physical activities, creative activities, and educational/enrichment activities. This is reported through the Q38 return.

Physical activity: Each day of HAF provision should include at least 60 minutes of physical activity, in line with the Chief Medical Officer's guidelines for children.

Nutritional education: Clubs should provide nutritional education that helps children understand the importance of healthy eating and develops practical food skills.

Food provision: At least one healthy meal per day must be provided, meeting the School Food Standards. This addresses the core issue of holiday hunger that HAF was designed to tackle.

Delivery Periods

Easter: A minimum of 4 days of provision, each lasting at least 4 hours per day.

Summer: A minimum of 16 days of provision (across 4 weeks), each lasting at least 4 hours per day. Summer is by far the largest delivery period.

Christmas/Winter: A minimum of 4 days of provision, each lasting at least 4 hours per day.

These are minimum requirements — many local authorities exceed them, particularly during the summer when they may offer 5 or 6 weeks of activities.

How Local Authorities Deliver HAF

Most local authorities do not directly run HAF clubs themselves. Instead, they act as coordinators, commissioning and supporting a network of local activity providers.

The Coordinator Role

Each local authority appoints a HAF coordinator (or team) who is responsible for the overall programme. Their role typically includes:

Provider recruitment and onboarding: Identifying, vetting, and approving local organisations to deliver HAF activities. This includes checking safeguarding policies, insurance, DBS checks, and the quality of proposed activities.

Funding distribution: Allocating the DfE funding to approved providers, typically on a per-place or per-session basis, and managing grant agreements.

Booking and place management: Either providing a central booking system or supporting providers to manage their own bookings while maintaining oversight of places and attendance.

Eligibility verification: Ensuring that children attending HAF sessions are eligible for benefits-related FSM, either through central checking or by supporting providers to verify eligibility.

Quality assurance: Monitoring provision during the holidays to ensure it meets DfE standards, addressing any issues, and gathering feedback from families and providers.

DfE reporting: Completing statutory returns including the Q36 (attendance data) and Q38 (enrichment activities) reports, which require detailed data about participation, demographics, and activity types.

Common Delivery Models

Centralised model: The local authority manages everything centrally — booking, eligibility checking, provider onboarding, and reporting. This gives maximum control but requires significant administrative capacity. Platforms like Plinth are designed to support this model.

Decentralised model: Providers manage their own bookings and eligibility checking, with the local authority collecting data retrospectively for reporting. This is lighter-touch but often leads to data quality issues and inconsistent eligibility checking.

Hybrid model: The local authority provides a central booking system and eligibility checking, but delegates other aspects to providers. This balances control with flexibility and is the model most commonly adopted by authorities using Plinth.

The choice of delivery model significantly impacts the administrative burden on the HAF team and the quality of data available for DfE reporting.

DfE Reporting Requirements

One of the most challenging aspects of HAF delivery is meeting the DfE's reporting requirements. Local authorities must submit detailed data returns that demonstrate how funding has been used and what outcomes have been achieved.

The Q36 Return

The Q36 return focuses on attendance and participation data. It requires local authorities to report:

Individual-level attendance data: How many sessions each child attended, broken down by holiday period (Easter, summer, Christmas).

Demographic breakdown: Attendance data segmented by age, gender, ethnicity, disability status, and whether the child was FSM-eligible or part of the 15% non-FSM cohort.

Geographic coverage: Data on where provision was delivered, ensuring that HAF reaches all areas within the local authority rather than being concentrated in specific locations.

Unique participation counts: The total number of unique children who attended at least one HAF session, which is the headline figure the DfE uses to assess programme reach.

The Q38 Return

The Q38 return focuses on the nature of activities provided:

Activity types: A breakdown of the enrichment activities offered, including sport and physical activity, creative arts, STEM activities, cooking and nutrition, and other categories.

Provider data: Information about the organisations delivering HAF, including their type (voluntary sector, private provider, school) and the number of places offered.

Quality indicators: Evidence that provision meets the DfE's standards for physical activity, food, and enrichment.

Reporting Challenges

Many local authorities struggle with DfE reporting because their data is fragmented across multiple spreadsheets, provider returns, and booking systems. Common issues include:

• Duplicate records where children attended multiple providers
• Incomplete demographic data
• Inconsistent eligibility checking leading to uncertain FSM status
• Difficulty reconciling provider-reported attendance with booking data

Plinth addresses these challenges by providing a single platform where all attendance, eligibility, and activity data is captured consistently, making DfE reporting significantly faster and more accurate.

Accurate DfE reporting is not just a compliance requirement — it demonstrates the value of HAF provision and supports the case for continued funding.

Key Challenges for Local Authorities

Running a HAF programme involves significant operational complexity. Here are the most common challenges that HAF coordinators face.

FSM Eligibility Checking

Verifying that children are eligible for benefits-related free school meals is one of the most time-consuming aspects of HAF. Many authorities rely on manual processes — parents provide evidence, which is then cross-referenced with school records or the DfE's Eligibility Checking Service. This creates bottlenecks, particularly close to holiday periods when bookings surge. Automated eligibility checking through platforms like Plinth can reduce this from hours of manual work to seconds.

Provider Onboarding

Each holiday period, local authorities must onboard and approve activity providers. This involves collecting and verifying safeguarding policies, insurance certificates, risk assessments, DBS checks, and activity plans. With some authorities working with 50–100+ providers, the administrative burden is substantial. A structured digital onboarding process ensures nothing is missed and providers can self-serve much of the paperwork.

Central Booking

Offering a central booking system that families can use to find and book HAF sessions is a DfE expectation. However, building or procuring a booking system that handles eligibility checking, capacity management, waiting lists, and multiple providers is complex. Many authorities have relied on generic booking tools (like Eventbrite) that lack HAF-specific features.

Attendance Tracking

Accurate attendance data is essential for DfE reporting and for understanding programme reach. When providers track attendance independently using paper registers or their own systems, data quality is inconsistent and consolidation is labour-intensive. Real-time digital attendance tracking solves this problem.

Data Quality for Reporting

All of the above challenges compound when it comes to DfE reporting. If eligibility data is unreliable, attendance records are incomplete, or provider information is scattered, producing accurate Q36 and Q38 returns becomes extremely difficult and stressful.

These challenges are interconnected — solving one (like centralising booking) often improves others (like attendance tracking and reporting).

How Plinth Supports HAF Delivery

Plinth is used by local authorities including Camden, Islington, East Riding, Hammersmith & Fulham, and South Tyneside to manage their HAF programmes. The platform addresses every major challenge that HAF coordinators face.

Automated FSM eligibility checking: Families' eligibility is verified automatically during the booking process, eliminating manual spreadsheet cross-referencing and reducing errors.

Digital provider onboarding: Providers complete onboarding through a structured digital process, uploading required documents and confirming compliance. The HAF team can review and approve providers without chasing paperwork by email.

Central booking system: A family-facing booking platform allows parents and carers to browse available sessions, check eligibility, and book places — all in one place. Capacity management and waiting lists are handled automatically.

Real-time attendance tracking: Providers record attendance digitally, with data flowing directly to the local authority's dashboard. This eliminates the need to collect and consolidate paper registers after each holiday period.

One-click DfE reporting: All the data needed for Q36 and Q38 returns is captured consistently throughout the programme, making report generation fast and accurate rather than a stressful retrospective exercise.

By bringing all HAF operations onto a single platform, Plinth reduces administrative burden, improves data quality, and frees HAF coordinators to focus on programme quality rather than paperwork.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much funding does each local authority receive for HAF?

HAF funding is allocated based on the number of children eligible for benefits-related free school meals in each area. The total national budget has been over £200 million per year since the 2021 national rollout. Allocations vary significantly — larger authorities with more FSM-eligible children receive more. The DfE publishes individual allocations annually. Local authorities must use at least 90% of their funding on direct provision to children.

Can children who are not on free school meals attend HAF?

Yes, but with limitations. Local authorities can use up to 15% of their HAF funding to provide places for children who are not eligible for benefits-related FSM but who the authority considers could benefit — for example, children with a social worker, young carers, or children from families in financial hardship. The remaining 85% must be targeted at FSM-eligible children. Some authorities also allow non-eligible families to book HAF sessions at their own cost, where capacity allows.

What happens if a local authority fails to meet DfE reporting requirements?

The DfE monitors compliance with reporting requirements and can take action if authorities fail to submit data or if the quality of submissions is consistently poor. This could include additional scrutiny, required improvement plans, or in extreme cases, adjustments to future funding. In practice, most issues are resolved through support and guidance from the DfE's HAF team rather than punitive measures. However, accurate reporting is essential for demonstrating programme value and securing future funding.

How do families find out about HAF sessions in their area?

Local authorities are expected to promote HAF widely, particularly targeting families who may benefit most. Common approaches include: working with schools to share information directly with FSM-eligible families; social media campaigns; partnerships with Family Hubs and Children's Centres; and providing a searchable directory of sessions (often through a central booking platform). Authorities using Plinth provide families with an online booking portal where they can browse all available sessions by location, date, age group, and activity type.

Is HAF funding guaranteed for future years?

HAF has been funded annually since its national rollout in 2021, with continued commitment in subsequent spending reviews. While the programme enjoys cross-party support and strong evidence of impact, funding is subject to annual government decisions. The permanence of HAF funding has been a recurring concern for local authorities who need to plan ahead, recruit staff, and build relationships with providers. The trend has been towards continued funding, reflecting the programme's success in reaching disadvantaged children.

What qualifications do HAF providers need?

HAF providers must meet several requirements set by the DfE and enforced by the local authority. These include: appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures; relevant insurance (public liability as a minimum); DBS checks for all staff and volunteers working with children; suitable premises with appropriate risk assessments; the ability to provide food that meets School Food Standards; and a programme of activities that includes physical activity, enrichment, and nutritional education. Many local authorities add their own additional requirements based on local needs and standards.

Conclusion & Call to Action

The HAF programme represents a significant investment in tackling holiday hunger and ensuring disadvantaged children have access to enriching activities during school breaks. For local authorities, delivering HAF effectively requires strong operational systems — from eligibility checking and provider management through to attendance tracking and DfE reporting.

Growing programme: With over £200 million in annual funding and coverage across all 153 local authorities, HAF is now a cornerstone of holiday provision for disadvantaged children in England, reaching hundreds of thousands of families each year.

Operational complexity: The challenges of managing multiple providers, verifying eligibility for millions of children, tracking attendance in real time, and producing accurate DfE returns demand purpose-built tools rather than manual spreadsheet-based approaches.

Purpose-built solutions: Platforms like Plinth are specifically designed to address these challenges, bringing all HAF operations onto a single platform and transforming reporting from a stressful retrospective exercise into a straightforward process.

For local authorities looking to improve their HAF delivery, investing in the right technology is essential for reaching more children, maintaining compliance, and demonstrating impact.

Ready to streamline your HAF programme? Book a demo of Plinth to see how local authorities like Camden, Islington, and East Riding are transforming their HAF delivery.

Recommended Next Pages

• Best Booking Systems for HAF Programmes – A comparison of booking systems available for HAF, and what features to look for.

• How to Complete HAF DfE Reporting – A step-by-step guide to completing Q36 and Q38 returns accurately and efficiently.

• FSM Eligibility Checking for HAF – Manual vs automated approaches to verifying free school meal eligibility.

• How to Onboard HAF Providers – A practical guide to recruiting, vetting, and approving activity providers.

• HAF Management Software vs Spreadsheets – Why purpose-built software outperforms manual processes for HAF delivery.

• How to Track HAF Attendance – Meeting DfE attendance tracking requirements with digital tools.

Last updated: February 2026

For more information about managing your HAF programme with Plinth, contact our team or schedule a demo.