School holiday meals for more children who are most in need thanks to transformative support package

Children most in need across the country will be kept from going hungry during the school holidays thanks to funding announced in the Spending Review. 

This latest support for children will be delivered under a new £1 billion package – including Barnett consequentials funding – to reform crisis support, including the launch of a new Crisis and Resilience Fund. 

As a multi-year deal, the Fund will for the first time give councils much needed certainty to protect households from falling into crisis and to provide vital support to those who need it most.  

Local authorities will be empowered to best target support in their areas – including allocating funding to ensure children receive meals outside of term time. 

Other examples could include bringing together existing services to deliver joined-up support such as on debt advice, income maximisation, budgeting and welfare support.

The ambition to ensure no child goes hungry builds on the government’s pledge to ensure 500,000 more children become eligible for free school meals following the major expansion to breakfast clubs in England.  

Children who are most in need already receive meals out of term time via the government’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme and the latest funding will extend this even further. 

This marks a significant step in the government’s ambition to reduce child poverty and to end the mass dependence on emergency food parcels. 

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said 

No child should be left to go hungry and we are determined to do whatever it takes to tackle this issue. 

Our commitment to feeding children most in need builds on measures like our expansion of free school meals – and we will be going further in our Child Poverty Strategy.

The funding we have secured is a major part of our Plan for Change and will help ensure left behind families across the country can look forward to a brighter future.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said

This government is committed to delivering excellence for every child. 

That is why, as part of our Plan for Change, we are rolling out free breakfast clubs and extending free school meals to deliver better life chances for all of our children. 

The only hunger a child should have is a hunger to learn – we will make sure children’s backgrounds should not determine where they end up.

The new Crisis and Resilience Fund will replace the Household Support Fund and launch from April 2026 – incorporating Discretionary Housing Payments. 

The funding represents a total of £1 billion including Barnett consequentials – with £842 million allocated to England. 

An allocation will go towards food support and meals to children during the holidays. Details will be set out in due course. 

This comes alongside wider action to tackle poverty and make everyone better off – including increasing the National Minimum Wage for those on the lowest incomes and uprating benefits. 

The government has also introduced a cap on how much Universal Credit can be taken for debt repayments – helping 1.2 million households become up to £420 better off. 

Alongside this, the best route out of poverty for struggling families is well paid, secure work. That’s why the Government is delivering on its Get Britain Working reforms, to support people into good jobs, boost living standards and put money back into families’ pockets. 

Additional Information  

• A total of £1 billion to reform crisis support (including £842 million for England) has been announced in the Spending Review. 

• This includes funding for the new Crisis and Resilience Fund incorporating Discretionary Housing Payments as well as investment in ensuring the poorest children don’t go hungry in the holidays.