Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme 2026

The Department of Education (DfE) has confirmed that all Local Authorities in England will receive funding to co-ordinate a local Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) during Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays of the 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29 financial years. The overall purpose of the funding given to Newham is to enable the Council to coordinate free holiday provision during the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays for children and young people that are eligible for benefits-related free school meals. HAF holiday provision includes healthy food, access to positive activities and nutritional advice and guidance. Due to uncertainty around funding allocations and the compressed timescales for delivery, no full pre-market engagement will be undertaken for this procurement. This approach is intended to avoid creating unrealistic expectations within the market and ensure compliance with the available budget and timeline constraints. Some market engagement was carried out with current HAF providers. Conversations were also carried out with new providers who have shown interest in HAF previously.