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A week out from the start of the new school term, the government has delivered a boost for families by investing more to cover the cost of childcare fees in term time and school holidays.  

Parents using the 30 hours can save up to £7,500 a year, which can be better spent on quality family time and comes as a massive salve for parents who have been struggling with the cost-of-living pressure that we inherited.   

But ministers are urging families to apply within the next three days, or risk losing out on this generational offer from this September. 

The scheme – which covers children from 9 months until reception – will support more children to be ‘school-ready’ and set them up to achieve better results in school. That delivers a key priority in the Plan for Change – to give children the best start in life.  

This comes as £600 million is also being invested to extend the Holiday Activities and Food programme for another three years. This supports children from lower-income families by providing free meals and enriching activities during school holidays. It helps close the development gap, boosts confidence and social skills, and has already reached over half a million children in the past year.  

The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme helps parents to make savings of over £300 a year.

Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said:    

Giving every child the Best Start in Life is my number one priority, which is why we are delivering on our commitment to provide hundreds of thousands of children with 30 hours government-funded early education. 

Whether it’s to save up to £7,500 a year, support parents to get back to work or reduce the pressure on grandparents who so often have to step in, the benefits are widespread. 

The offer is just around the corner, and so I’m urging every eligible parent who wants it, to take it up.

Andrew Forsey OBE, National Director of Feeding Britain said:    

Today’s news will be welcomed by hundreds of thousands of parents across England.  

The support provided to children from lower incomes through the Holiday Activities Fund HAF eases the pressure on family budgets during the school holidays, enhances their access to enriching and physical activities, and gives them a healthy meal each day during the school holidays.    

This delivers a raft of benefits for children and their families, so it is excellent news that the government is extending this provision for a further three years.  

Knowing that this support will continue to be available, for the next few years, will lift a weight off their shoulders.

Bly Twomey, 15 year old who attends Brighton’s Table Tennis Club, talks about her journey to the Paralympics:  

The first time I went to Holiday Activities and Food Club, I didn’t really want to participate but everyone was so nice and involved me from the start. I then started going to the club regularly and it wasn’t long before I got invited to join the British Para Table Tennis squad, which led me to the Paralympics last year!    

I had only been playing three years so it felt like a dream come true. I wouldn’t have found the sport or the club without HAF. I love that children with disadvantages can have the opportunities like I have through this initiative. Brighton Table Tennis Club isn’t just a club, it’s a family and I am so pleased they found me and I found them.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, said:   

Making sure that children have hungry minds, not hungry bellies, will help them to fulfil their potential in life, and that is what this Government is all about.  

Our historic expansion of free school meals to families on universal credit will lift 100,000 children out of poverty and tackle term-time hunger.  

That is alongside the £2.5 billion we are investing in the household support fund, and our commitment to funding the holiday activities and food programme, which will tackle holiday hunger too.

The Best Start Holiday Activities and Food programme provides free places for school-aged children from reception to year 11 who receive benefits related free school meals.  

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NOTES TO EDITORS   

Further quotes:

Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said:  

Around 3 million children, who are relying on free school meals to receive a nutritious meal every day, are at risk of going hungry during the school holidays. It means there are whole months of the year where many children might not know where their next meal is coming from, affecting their health, their ability to enjoy childhood and even their chances in life.  

This is why we’ve been campaigning for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) scheme to be extended – and it’s why we welcome this three-year extension. Earlier this year, the government rightly expanded free school meals to 500,000 more children in families receiving Universal Credit. We, alongside those families, need to know that these children will not be at risk of holiday hunger wherever they live across the country.

Meghan Meek-O’Connor - Policy Lead UK Child Poverty, Save the Children UK said: 

The extension of the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme for the next three years is another welcome move from the UK Government to tackle child poverty and lift the financial pressure on families over the school holidays.

All children deserve summer holidays filled with fun and adventure, and HAF will ensure no child misses out because of a lack of money. We are pleased to see another step forward in what we hope will be an ambitious strategy to tackle child poverty from the UK Government.