FOI - Summer Holiday meal provision [Jun 2023]

Your request

1. What provision during the summer holidays 2023 is available for children who are ordinarily eligible for free school meals?
2. What is the budget allocated for this year’s scheme?
3. How many children are eligible for the support?
4. How much money has been allocated per child?
5. What is the eligibility criteria for the support?

Our response

Please note that your request appears to be aimed at councils who have the statutory responsibility to deliver the Holiday Activities and Food programme which is centrally funded by Government and is only open to free school meal eligible children. The GLA is London's strategic government and does not operate in the same way as local Borough Councils. To contact the individual local Borough Councils, please visit: https://directory.londoncouncils.gov.uk/

Please find below the information that the GLA holds within the scope of your request.

1. What provision during the summer holidays 2023 is available for children who are ordinarily eligible for free school meals? What is the budget allocated for this year’s scheme?

• In March, the Mayor announced an emergency free holiday meals programme, which is providing £3.1 million funding to The Felix Project and Mayor’s Fund for London to work in partnership and provide nutritious meals to families across London during the school holidays over 12 months.
• It is estimated that the funding will enable the equivalent of 6.9 million meals to be provided via six different schemes. The schemes will supply meals to hundreds of schools, charities, and community and faith organisations working across the capital that run holiday activity and food schemes, host holiday clubs or events or generally provide support to families during the holidays.
• The Mayor’s funding will support provision across the city, with at least some delivery taking place in every London borough. Provision will be targeted based on assessments of need undertaken by the community partners receiving food that understand the communities they support best. They will tailor their provision accordingly. Therefore, the exact weighting of the distribution cannot be pre-determined.
• In response to heightened demand for food aid, the Mayor has also committed £425k to enable The Felix Project to expand its operational capacity, and allow it to deliver food on Saturdays throughout the year, as well as during the week.
• This will enable around 100 new charitable organisations on their waiting list to be supplied with food, and help The Felix Project deliver an additional 20 tonnes of food every weekend, which will create approximately 2.5-3 million additional meals over the next year.

5. What is the eligibility criteria for the support? How many children are eligible for the support? How much money has been allocated per child?

• The Mayor’s emergency free holiday meals programme aims to deliver a target number of meals to children in greatest need, rather than target a specific number of eligible children or allocate a specific proportion of funding per beneficiary.
• It aims to deliver 6.9 million meals over 2023/24. In addition, funding for The Felix Project to extend its operations to six days a week will provide 2.5-3 million meals over the same period.

• The GLA is working with delivery partners to ensure provision reaches children and families experiencing the highest level of need and financial hardship. Provision will be targeted based on assessments of need undertaken by the community partners receiving food that understand the communities they support best.
• The programme will attempt to plug gaps by building on (rather than replicating or replacing) existing Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, and wider, provision. Currently, HAF programme funding is available for 6 out of 13 school holiday weeks and its eligibility criteria mirror those for Free School Meals.