Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement introduced a joint report regarding the delivery of the Department for Education (DfE) sponsored Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which provided healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children over the main school term holidays.

The Cabinet Member explained that due to the DfE only notifying local authorities of funding allocations for 2021 in February, the Education service had directly commissioned six organisations to provide services over the Easter holidays and implemented a bidding process for the Summer holiday provision which resulted in a wider range of organisations with different specialisms providing services over that period.  The intention for the Christmas holiday period was to follow a similar approach to that for the Summer period.

The Cabinet Member outlined some of the many benefits of the programme and commended the response of the Education service to ensure that face-to-face provision was in place at such short notice, which many other local authorities had been unable to achieve.  The Cabinet Member also spoke on the inclusive nature of the provision that she had witnessed over the Summer period, which had been enjoyed by over 3,000 children and young people, and encouraged colleagues to visit activities over the Christmas period.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree that the Council proceeds with the commissioning and delivery of the Holiday Activities and Food Programme for the 2021 Christmas holiday period, in accordance with the strategy set out in the report;

(ii)  Note the action taken to ensure delivery of the Holiday Activities and Food Programme for the 2021 Easter and Summer holiday periods, as set out in the report;

(iii)  Authorise the Commissioning Director for Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Members for Social Care and Health Integration and Educational Attainment and School Improvement, the Strategic Director, Law and Governance and the Managing Director, to conduct the procurement and award and enter into the contract(s) and all other necessary or ancillary agreements with the successful bidders, in accordance with the strategy set out in the report; and

(iv)  Authorise the Commissioning Director for Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Members for Social Care and Health Integration and Educational Attainment and School Improvement, the Strategic Director, Law and Governance and the Managing Director, to conduct future procurements and award contracts for the delivery of the Holiday Activities and Food Programmes in the event that the Department for Education continues to provide adequate funding.