Urgent call for local councils to be given funding to support summer holiday provision

The proposals, drawn up the National Education Union, focus primarily on providing vulnerable children with safe, enriching activities and time for exercise and sport over the six-week summer holiday. They also include an element of personal study support to help prepare them for learning in September.

Commenting on the launch of the proposals, Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, said that the summer of 2020 will be a ‘unique situation’ and this ‘local offer’ will make a vital contribution to children's physical and mental health.

She added, ‘Local councils need advice and funding to decide how children and young people can get outside in supervised and safe situations this summer, given the ongoing importance of social distancing. Local councils are best placed to audit and co-ordinate what could work in their area, given local infection rates, and to devise a realistic plan so that children eligible for free school meals will have access to positive and healthy activities, so they are ready to learn in September.’

To make safe summer schemes possible this August, and a seek sufficient numbers of volunteers, local authorities need ‘urgent’ specific extra funding from the Chancellor.

Ms Bousted added, ‘It is in the Government’s gift to make this happen, and to ensure that those teachers, youth workers, supply staff, support staff and others who would volunteer to lend their expertise and make a Summer Holiday Local Offer possible can be paid appropriately.’

Responding to the proposals, Councillor Judith Blake, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said, ‘Councils are ready to step up and innovate by using cultural facilities to provide space and resources to support learning efforts and physical activities over the summer when most schools will be closed.

But she added, ‘It is vital that the Government urgently opens a dialogue with councils and schools to offer clarity for its proposals to help children catch up on schoolwork they may have missed out on during lockdown, both during the summer and into the autumn, to ensure young people are helped to re-engage with all forms of learning from September.’

The NEU proposes that all aspects of the Holiday Local Offer should be provided free for families whose children are eligible for FSM as a minimum but a local offer could go wider if possible through existing partnerships.

It also states that organisations with a credible track record of holiday provision and outdoor learning such as the Scouts, Guides, Woodcraft Folk, YMCA and YHA may be in a position to contribute to the local offer, but they are currently confused about social distancing expectations, and when or if they are expected or allowed to resume their operations.

As a minimum, the local offer should include:

• School-age children and young people who are eligible for Free School Meals (FSM)
• School age children and young people identified as vulnerable through joint planning by schools, LAs and other relevant services
• Children and young people with SEND who have carers in need of respite.