Elected Member Briefing - Holiday Activities, Food and Childcare

About this briefing note

Report by: Bernadette Martin-Scott, Service Manager Early Years and Child Care 

Date: 5 July 2022 

Subject: Summer 2022 Holiday Food, Activities and Childcare 

Responsible Officer: Susan Johnstone, Team Leader Early Years & Primary 

Publication 

This Briefing Note will be published on the Council's website following circulation to Councillors. Its contents may be disclosed or shared outwith the Council. 

Details 

Purpose 

The purpose of this Briefing Note is to advise Elected Members of the 2022 Summer Holiday Programme offering activities, food and childcare targeted to children aged 5 to 14 years old from families in need around Perth and Kinross. 

Briefing Information 

£10 million was allocated to Local Authorities across Scotland from the Scottish Government for this targeted provision. This investment aligns with the national mission to tackle child poverty.   It also complements wider investment in school aged childcare and free school meal replacements for eligible families based on low income and wider investment in education recovery. 

From this total, PKC was awarded £242,363 for Summer 2022 activities. The Scottish Government funding is in addition to our own investment to support families experiencing food insecurity during school holiday periods through the "Fuelled for Fun" project. A further £104,000 has recently been agreed by the Council in ongoing support for these efforts during the October 2022, Christmas 2022-23 and Easter 2023 school holidays. Education and Children's Services has also made available £35,000 to assist local youth groups around Perth and Kinross to provide a range of activities such as swimming, cooking, outdoor sports etc. 

The funding application process has been made more user-friendly for internal and external applicants seeking support and to allow for a consistent reporting structure. 

A group was established with representation from across the Council to identify the key organisations and agencies that could benefit from the funding. This included drawing information from applications for 2021's Summer of Play and Fuelled for Fun. Potential applicants were then invited to apply via an online form, as well as creation of a short video clip to encourage applications that was shared on social media and our website.  

Applications were evaluated and approved, or further information was requested before approval by members of the Childcare Strategy Team, Parenting and Family Learning Team and Services for Young People and processing of approved funding by Finance.  

As this process progressed, the team worked to identify gaps in provision, either geographically or for targeted groups. To address this, the approvals panel actively contacted known groups to encourage them to apply. 

In addition to this funding, a universal offer of "What's On over the Summer" has been shared on social media.  

In total 45 applications were received, requesting funding amounts ranging from £100 to £36,000. All 12 PKC wards have at least one initiative arranged for during the summer holidays which includes food and either childcare or activities.  

Among the examples of projects funded in this way are: 

• Activities for Young Carers organised by PKAVS

• Holiday Activities for children/young people and families organised internally by our Community Link Workers, Parenting & Family Learning Team and a number of schools, and externally by a number of organisations including Perth Autism Support, Perthshire Women's Aid, Home Start Perth and Kinross, Live Active Leisure and Culture Perth and Kinross. 
  
  For further information, please see: 

• Scottish Government guidance on summer holiday activities, food and childcare

• Fuelled for Fun - Food Insecurity during Holiday Periods Programme 2022

The Fuelled for Fun funding reopened for new applications on Friday 1 July 2022 for the October, Christmas and Easter school holidays. 

All organisations delivering initiatives will be asked to complete an evaluation with the information gathered to be included in a short report for the Scottish Government on how the money has been allocated and spent.