In a meeting on 25 September 2025, Laura Eden, Corporate Director for Children and Young People, approved the allocation of contracts for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) Christmas 2025 Programme. The decision, valued at £269,406.71, will provide 10,089 places for children and young people across the borough. This initiative aims to support vulnerable children and families during the school holidays.

Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) Christmas 2025

Laura Eden, Corporate Director for Children and Young People, approved the award of contracts totalling £269,406.71 to 14 lead delivery organisations. These organisations will deliver the 2025 Christmas Programme, providing 10,089 places for children and young people.

The HAF programme is designed to provide free places at holiday clubs during the Easter, Summer, and Christmas school holidays. These clubs offer at least one daily nutritious meal, along with physical and enriching activities, for children and young people in Newham who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals¹. The grant can also be used to provide free or subsidised places for children not receiving free school meals but who the council believes would benefit.

The Christmas mini competition was divided into three lots:

• Lot 1: Universal provision for primary school aged children
• Lot 2: Universal provision for secondary school aged children
• Lot 3: Specialist provision for children with significant or complex special educational needs and / or disabilities (SEND).

Providers could apply to one or multiple lots for which they were already appointed to on the framework. All Lot 1 and Lot 2 providers were required to accommodate children with low-level SEND needs, up to 12% of their total places, to ensure a fully inclusive programme. Providers were asked to bid for a minimum of 4 days and a maximum of 8 days of HAF provision.

The council received applications totalling £357,034.97. A minimum score was set for each lot to ensure the maximum number of places within the available funding: 55 points for Lot 1, 59 points for Lot 2, and 63 points for Lot 3. The 14 selected organisations, operating at 27 locations (listed in Appendix 1 HAF Christmas 2025 Successful Providers), met or exceeded these minimum requirements. It is estimated that the programme will engage 2,522 unique children across the borough.

The HAF programme aligns with the council's priorities to:

• Build a fairer Newham, giving children and young people the best start in life.
• Enable them to achieve their potential, be safe, happy, and healthy regardless of their background.
• Tackle food insecurity and holiday hunger, as part of the council's Young People and Food Security Strategy.

Alternative Options

Two alternative options were considered and rejected:

1. Do nothing: This would limit HAF provision to internal teams, which would not meet the DfE grant requirements for sufficient and diverse activities and specialist support.
2. Agree funding for local authority-maintained schools only: There was no interest from local authority schools in HAF 2025, and this option would also fail to meet the DfE grant requirements.

Financial Implications

The HAF programme is funded by a government grant from the Department for Education (DfE), with LB Newham eligible to claim up to £2,049,110 in eligible expenditure for the 2025/26 financial year. Eligible expenditure includes costs related to programme coordination and the provision of free holiday club places that meet the DfE's minimum HAF standards.

Legal Implications

The contracts awarded for the Christmas holidays follow a mini competition exercise, with successful bidders listed in Section 4 of the HAF Non Key Decision Christmas 25 document. The arrangements fall within the threshold for light touch services under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended). The grant provisions from the DfE are made under sections 31(3) and 31(4) of the Local Government Act 2003, with officers ensuring adherence to the conditions for full utilisation and recovery of funds. The council's actions are in accordance with its general power of competence under section 1 of the Localism Act 2011.

Equalities Implications

The council has a duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations. The service has undertaken and keeps under review an Equalities Impact Assessment. The funding targets vulnerable children and young people (those eligible for free school meals and those with SEND), impacting families living in poverty, with clear links to class, race, and disability.