Summary: Ms X complained the Council wrongly excluded her child from the Holiday and Activities (HAF) Programme and failed to apply its discretion to allow inclusion as a child in need. The Council confused two schemes and failed to consider Ms X’s child for inclusion in the HAF programme meaning the child missed out on holiday activities and meals. A remedy which includes a distress payment and information on how to apply for the next scheme is agreed.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council wrongly excluded her children from the Holiday and Activities Food (HAF) Programme and failed to apply its discretion to allow inclusion as a child in need.
2. Ms X says her child missed out on holiday activities and meals.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)
5. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF)

8. HAF is a programme of government funding for school aged children up to year 11. It is primarily but not exclusively aimed at children who receive free school meals. Local authorities are required to ensure the offer of free holiday club provision is available for all children in receipt of benefits related free school meals though attendance is voluntary.
9. Local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidies holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of free school meals but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF.

Newcastle upon Tyne City Council’s HAF Programme

10. The Council advertises its HAF programme for children who are eligible for benefits related free school meals or who are “in need”. It commissions organisations to deliver the HAF programme and encourages these groups to accept children not in receipt of free school meals that it considers could benefit from attending. It does not publish specific criteria stating what “in need” means. It says that children that don’t qualify under the free school meals route can be considered via trusted referrals.

Household Support Fund

11. This is a government funded scheme to enable local authorities to support vulnerable households with the cost of essentials. The scheme gives discretion to local authorities on how to use the funding withing the scope of set guidance.

Elective Home Education (EHE)

12. Parents have a right to educate their children at home (Section 7, Education Act 1996). This can include the use of tutors or parental support groups. Elective home education is distinct from education provided by a council otherwise than at school, for example when a child is too ill to attend. In choosing to educate a child at home, the parents take on financial responsibility for any costs involved, including examination costs.

Key facts

13. This section sets out the key events in this case and is not intended to be a detailed chronology.
14. Ms X’s son has special educational needs and an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). Even though Ms X successfully appealed, the school named by the Tribunal refused to accept her son. This resulted in her son becoming home educated in 2024. Although not the subject of this complaint, Ms X says the implications of deregistering her son and agreeing to elective home education was not fully explained to her.
15. In May 2025 Ms X made a formal complaint to the Council about missed entitlement to HAF vouchers following her son’s transition to EHE. She explained that while her son was on the school roll he received HAF vouchers. She said that once he was deregistered she received nothing. Ms X said that she contacted the Council’s admissions team in April 2025 and was told that she should still be eligible. Ms X asked the Council to explain why eligibility was not properly explained to her and for it to backdate her entitlement or provide an equivalent remedy for the period of missed entitlement.
16. The Council responded on 23 May saying the Council receives funding from central government through the Household Support Fund which can be used in a multitude of ways including providing free school meal voucher for school holidays to children who are entitled to free school meals during term-time, as well as to pensioners on low income and hardship payment for residents in significant financial difficulty. It says each local authority can choose how best to allocate this funding.
17. It said that as Ms X had chosen to home educate her son, she was expected to take full responsibility for the child’s education including all associated costs and so there is no financial support for meals during term time or in the school holidays.
18. After escalating her complaint, the Council provided a further complaint response on 6 June. The Council said the advice given by the admissions team was incorrect as children who are home educated have never been eligible for vouchers through the HSF because they are not in receipt of free school meals. It apologised for the incorrect advice given and said it would ensure accurate advice is given from now on.
19. It reiterated the previous position that parents choosing to home educate take on the full financial responsibility of education their child. It said the Council had correctly stated the eligibility criteria in its previous complaint response because entitlement to holiday vouchers requires children to be on a school roll and entitled to free school meals. It reiterated that Ms X’s child was not entitled to support under the HSF scheme.
20. Ms X contacted the Council again and asked it to review the complaint response. She again asked about her child’s entitlement to HAF support and said this should have been considered under discretionary or transitional grounds.
21. The Council provided a stage three response on 22 July. It upheld her complaint that incorrect advice was given but said this was an isolated incident in April 2025 and that there was no evidence of incorrect advice in any prior communications. Her other complaints were not upheld.

Analysis

22. HSF and HAF are two distinct schemes. HAF is exclusively for school age children while HSF is a more general fund to provide financial support to different groups including pensioners and families in financial need.
23. The complaint made by Ms X to the council was specifically about entitlement to the HAF programme. As explained above, this is a programme funded by central government to provide holiday activities for school age children. While her complaint correspondence only mentions HAF, the Council’s responses refer to HSF. There is nothing to suggest Ms X was complaining about entitlement to HSF or that the Council properly considered and responded to her entitlement to HAF. This is fault.
24. In response to my enquiries, the Council has explained that HAF is not exclusively for children in receipt of free school meals and says that children do attend who it considers to be “in need”. It explained that it uses its discretion to provide some free or subsidised places for school age children it considers would benefit regardless of their background. It says that home educated children are not excluded from the scheme and so could be considered for a discretionary place, under the “in need” eligibility if referred by a trusted route such as social care, early help of SEND.
25. There is fault in the responses provided to Ms X via the complaint process. While it may have provided correct information about entitlement to HSF, there is nothing to show it correctly considered her entitlement to HAF. Even as a home educated child, Ms X’s son is not excluded from HAF and may be entitled under the “in need” route. The Council did not explain this to Ms X or give any information about how to apply for a discretionary place. There is also nothing to suggest it has any published guidance or criteria setting out how it will apply discretion for HAF.
26. As a result of the fault in this case, Ms X missed the opportunity to apply for a place on a HAF programme for her son. However, I cannot take a view on whether any application Ms X might have made, would have been successful. I am therefore not recommending a remedy for missed entitlement but consider the Council should make a payment to recognise Ms X’s lost opportunity to seek a place for her son on HAF programmes. I will also recommend service improvements to ensure similar issues do not arise again.

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Action

27. To remedy the injustice caused as a result of the fault identified above, the Council will, within one month of my final decision, take the following action:
• Apologise to Ms X for the fault identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology;
• Make Ms X a payment of £250 to recognise the lost opportunity and distress experienced;
• Provide information to Ms X about how to apply for a discretionary HAF place for her son for the upcoming Easter school holidays; and
• Review the information it provides, including on its website, about the HAF programme and eligibility for those not in receipt of free school meals to ensure parents are able to seek a discretionary place.
28. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

29. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault for the reasons explained in this statement. The Council has agreed to implement the actions I have recommended. These appropriately remedy any injustice caused by fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman