North Yorkshire Council

Report to the Assistant Chief Executive - Local Engagement

3 November 2025

Holiday Activities & Food Programme (Feast)

Coordination Contract Re-procurement

Report of the Head of Localities

1. PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1 The purpose of this report is to seek approval from the Assistant Chief Executive – Local Engagement to run a procurement to identify a provider to coordinate the holiday activities and food programme.

2. BACKGROUND

2.1 In 2021, the Department for Education (DfE) introduced a national funding programme to all local authorities to deliver a programme of school holiday activities alongside a food offer for children eligible for means tested free school meals.

2.2 The national programme funding was scheduled to end on 31 March 2026 with no further provision. The Council was notified by DfE at the end of August that as part of its Best Start in Life mission, that over £600 million has been confirmed for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme nationally for the next three financial years (from 2026/27) which equates to just over £200 million each year.

2.3 The HAF programme provides enriching activities and nutritious meals supporting health, wellbeing and learning readiness as well as supporting parents and carers. This multi-year settlement will enable more strategic planning, innovation, and long-term partnerships, supporting value for money and ensuring that children and young people continue to benefit from enriching holiday experiences and nutritious meals.

2.4 The national funding allocation, at just over £200m pa, is in line with the total funding for the last three years (£205m pa) from which North Yorkshire’s allocation was circa £1.4m pa.

2.5 Officers have been advised by DfE that the North Yorkshire exact settlement for 2026/27 will not be known until December 2025 however the national funding is on a par with the last three years and there has been no indication that any significant changes to the programme will be implemented.

3. DELIVERY OF THE 2026/29 HOLIDAY ACTIVITY & FOOD PROGRAMME

3.1 Local Authorities have flexibility in regard to how the programme is coordinated and delivered from completely in-house to through a contract or contracts with partners. The Council has delivered the 2021-26 programme through a mix of minimal internal officer support –one coordinator located in CYPS (as mandated by DfE) – with the majority of the local coordination, programming, development and delivery carried out through a single coordination contract with a local voluntary sector provider - North Yorkshire Sport - and face to face provision delivered by a partnership of around 100 local delivery partners. The programme is managed internally by the Localities Service in partnership with CYPS and Public Health.

3.2 Prior to the recent announcement regarding a further three years funding, the last delivery period would have been Christmas 2025 and as such the current contract expires on 31 March 2026 following the submission of the final monitoring report.

3.3 The first delivery period for the new funding will be Easter 2026, it is therefore essential that the re-procurement for the new supplier is completed before the end of March 2026. The tender specification will be published as a maximum value contract of £210,000 pa – or 15% of the total DfE funding whichever is the lower - with a caveat that this is dependent on the final settlement from DfE which will not be known until December 2025. The procurement will be a competitive process with a total value not exceeding £630,000 for the three year contract duration.

4.0 ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

4.1 Option 1 - Delivery of the coordination by internal staff teams

The programme has been running for five years, coordinated by North Yorkshire Sport. The systems, processes and relationships with the 100+ delivery partners have been established by the supplier. Given the short notice between formal notification of the grant from the DfE – December 2025 – and the date when the work to plan and deliver the Easter 2026 programme will start – January 2026 – there will be insufficient time to put in place an internal arrangement. Therefore, this is not a feasible option.

4.2 Option 2 – Extension to existing contract

The option of an extension to the existing contract to cover the new three year funding period is not available under the existing contract therefore we are required to undertake a new open procurement under the light touch regime

5.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The funding for this contract is fully funded through the grant from the DfE. There are no additional costs to North Yorkshire Council.

6.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

6.1 The Council’s Procurement and Contract Procedure Rules, and The Procurement Act 2023, where applicable, shall be complied with in the expenditure of the grant monies.

7.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

7.1 An equalities impact screening assessment has been completed (attached at Appendix A), there is not an adverse impact on any protected characteristics.

8.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS

8.1 There are no significant environmental implications arising from this report (see attached Initial Climate Change Impact Assessment Form attached at Appendix B).

9.0 RISKS

9.1 Risk: As a new competitive tender process is required the main risk is that due to time period between contract award and the first delivery period (April 2026) a new provider will have to build and deliver the delivery model from scratch.

9.2 Mitigation: The current contract with the existing provider does not expire until the 31 March 2026, as such, planning for the Easter holiday period will be within the existing contract.

10.0 REASON FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

10.1 Given the short timeframe between the receipt of the final grant determination letter from the DfE and the start date of the 2026 delivery it is considered that the re-procurement is commenced as soon as practicable in order to ensure a new provider is in place on or before the new funding period of 1 April 2026.

11.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

11.1 It is recommended that the proposal to commence a procurement for the delivery of the coordination contract for the Holiday Activity and Food Programme is approved, subject to receipt of the funding from the DfE.

Report prepared by:

Marie- Ann Jackson

Head of Localities

2 October 2025

Appendix A – Equalities Impact Assessment Screening

Appendix B – Climate Change

Appendix A

Initial equality impact assessment screening form This form records an equality screening process to determine the relevance of equality to a proposal, and a decision whether or not a full EIA would be appropriate or proportionate.
Directorate	Local Engagement
Service area	Localities
Proposal being screened	Holiday Activity Fund re-procurement
Officer(s) carrying out screening	Marie-Ann Jackson
What are you proposing to do?	Re-procure coordination contract for the delivery of the DfE funded Holiday Activity Fund.
Why are you proposing this? What are the desired outcomes?	To put in place a coordination contract for programme delivery.
Does the proposal involve a significant commitment or removal of resources? Please give details.	No
Impact on people with any of the following protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010, or NYC’s additional agreed characteristics As part of this assessment, please consider the following questions: · To what extent is this service used by particular groups of people with protected characteristics? · Does the proposal relate to functions that previous consultation has identified as important? · Do different groups have different needs or experiences in the area the proposal relates to? If for any characteristic it is considered that there is likely to be an adverse impact or you have ticked ‘Don’t know/no info available’, then a full EIA should be carried out where this is proportionate. You are advised to speak to your directorate representative for advice if you are in any doubt.
Protected characteristic		Potential for adverse impact				Don’t know/No info available
		Yes		No
Age				X
Disability				X
Sex				X
Race				X
Sexual orientation				X
Gender reassignment				X
Religion or belief				X
Pregnancy or maternity				X
Marriage or civil partnership				X

People in rural areas				X
People on a low income				X
Carer (unpaid family or friend)				X
Are from the Armed Forces Community				X
Does the proposal relate to an area where there are known inequalities/probable impacts (for example, disabled people’s access to public transport)? Please give details.		The programme funding is to address inequalities for children eligible for free school meals.
Will the proposal have a significant effect on how other organisations operate? (for example, partners, funding criteria, etc.). Do any of these organisations support people with protected characteristics? Please explain why you have reached this conclusion.		None
Decision (Please tick one option)		EIA not relevant or proportionate:	ü		Continue to full EIA:
Reason for decision		The re-procurement will not have any adverse impact on any protected characteristics. The programme that this re-procurement relates to will positively benefit children and young people who are eligible for free school meals, including children with SEND.
Signed (Assistant Director or equivalent)		Marie-Ann Jackson, Head of Localities
Date		2 October 2025

The chart below contains the main environmental factors to consider in your initial assessment – choose the appropriate option from the drop-down list for each one.

Remember to think about the following;

· Travel

· Construction

· Data storage

· Use of buildings

· Change of land use

· Opportunities for recycling and reuse

Environmental factor to consider	For the council	For the county	Overall
Greenhouse gas emissions	No effect on emissions	No Effect on emissions	No effect on emissions
Waste	No effect on waste	No effect on waste	No effect on waste
Water use	No effect on water usage	No effect on water usage	No effect on water usage
Pollution (air, land, water, noise, light)	No effect on pollution	No effect on pollution	No effect on pollution
Resilience to adverse weather/climate events (flooding, drought etc)	No effect on resilience	No effect on resilience	No effect on resilience
Ecological effects (biodiversity, loss of habitat etc)	No effect on ecology	No effect on ecology	No effect on ecology
Heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape

If any of these factors are likely to result in a negative or positive environmental impact then a full climate change impact assessment will be required. It is important that we capture information about both positive and negative impacts to aid the council in calculating its carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Decision (Please tick one option)	Full CCIA not relevant or proportionate:	X	Continue to full CCIA:
Reason for decision	The re-procurement will have no impact on any of the categories.
Signed (Assistant Director or equivalent)	Marie-Ann Jackson, Head of Localities
Date	2 October 2025

Title of proposal	Holiday Activities & Food Programme (Feast), Coordination Contract Re-procurement
Brief description of proposal	Re-procurement of coordination contract for the delivery of DfE funded Holiday Activity and Food Programme (HAF).
Directorate	Local Engagement
Service area	Localities
Lead officer	Marie-Ann Jackson
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the impact assessment	N/A