Around £600 million has been allocated to extend the Holiday Activities and Food programme for a further three years (£600 million (€696.0 million)). The scheme provides holiday childcare, activities and meals for children eligible for free school meals, and officials say working families could save more than £800 a year (€928) as a result.

As part of the expansion, England will begin offering 30 hours a week of funded childcare for children aged nine months and older from Monday. This sits alongside existing provision of 15 hours a week during term time for older children, with the full 30-hour offer due to begin for all eligible families next week. The HAF programme, for children from Reception to Year 11, is intended to help parents save more than £300 a year (€348). The expansion follows the rollout of funded childcare for two-year-olds in April last year.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said eligible parents should take up the offer as the rollout nears. Andrew Forsey, national director of Feeding Britain, said the news would be welcomed by hundreds of thousands of parents and that the programme helps ease budget pressures during the holidays, widen access to activities and provide a daily meal for children. Phillipson added that the move aims to give hundreds of thousands of children 30 hours of government-funded early education and highlighted potential savings of up to £7,500 a year (€8,700), urging eligible parents to take up the offer.