- Disabled children in low-income families are less likely to access free government holiday programmes than their peers without identified special educational needs and disabilities
- Inaccessible activities, unaffordable transport, unsuitable facilities and a lack of specialist support exclude disabled children from enjoying opportunities to play, make friends and try new things during the holidays
- Children’s Commissioner calls for a fully inclusive Holiday Activities and Food programme, with sustainable funding, accessible transport and better resources to support disabled children
The Children’s Commissioner is warning that disabled children from low-income families are missing the opportunity to enjoy the school holidays because activities are too far away, inaccessible or lack the specialist support they need.
Dame Rachel de Souza’s new report finds that children with specialist educational needs and disabilities (SEND) from disadvantaged backgrounds are around a third less likely than other disadvantaged children to access the government’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.
Drawing on unpublished self reported data from the Department for Education the report estimates that thousands of children with identified SEND who are eligible for free school meals may be missing out on the HAF programme, compared with their peers.
While attendance has increased in recent years, the report extrapolates data to estimate that only 14 per cent of children eligible for free school meals with SEND attended a HAF programme in summer 2025, compared with 22 per cent of eligible children without identified SEND.
Alongside the findings, the Children’s Commissioner’s report shares powerful responses to her national survey of children, The Big Future survey, which underlines the importance of play and access to equal opportunities.
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said:
“Every child deserves the chance to enjoy their school holidays, spending time with friends, playing and having fun. Yet for too many disabled children, these simple childhood opportunities are not possible either because activities they need are either not available, inaccessible or unable to meet their needs.
“I have seen first-hand the difference the Holiday Activity and Food programme makes, giving children the chance to try new things, build confidence and friendships, while easing childcare pressures for families struggling with the cost of living. But too many disabled children are being left behind because the support they need simply isn’t there.
“Children, regardless of their circumstances, tell me they want the same things as everyone else: places to play, clubs to join and opportunities to spend time with friends. These are simple childhood experiences, not luxuries. With the right investment and planning, we can remove these barriers and make sure that every child has the chance to enjoy their holidays.”
Introduced by the Department for Education in 2018, the Holiday Activities and Food programme provides free holiday clubs, enriching activities and healthy meals for children eligible for free school meals. Families book placed through their local authority.
Responses to The Big Future show the positive difference these programmes can make but also reveal the barriers preventing many disabled children from taking part.
In conversations with professionals working with HAF providers and local authority programme coordinators, the Commissioner heard about the common barriers facing disabled children and their families:
- Transport: Many disabled children cannot reach HAF activities because transport is unavailable or unaffordable, while local authorities say current funding does not cover the additional transport and staffing costs required.
- Higher staff costs: Disabled children often need higher staff to child ratios and additional support, but HAF funding does not reflect these extra costs, limiting the number of places providers can offer
- Training: Providers need staff with specialist training to support disabled children safely and effectively, creating additional costs and recruitment challenges.
- Tailored provision: Delivering high quality HAF activities for disabled children requires more time and resources to understand and plan for each child’s needs, and providers need resources to do this effectively.
The report also highlights the close link between disability and disadvantaged backgrounds. Office for National Statistics stats show almost 45 per cent of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan and 40 per cent of those receiving SEN support are eligible for free school meals, compared with 23 per cent of children with no identified special educational needs.
The Commissioner says every disabled child should have the opportunity to play, make friends and enjoy enriching activities during the school holidays. Her report sets out a number of recommendations, including:
- Consistent enrichment activities for disabled children backed by a national funding formula that is based on the number of children in the local area and takes into account the number of children in the area with an Education, Care and Health Plan and Special Education Needs support in school, and the number of children receiving Free School Meals.
- Resourcing a fully inclusive HAF programme with the Department for Education ensuring all local authorities are sufficiently resourced to deliver HAF programmes to children with disabilities, so that disabled children do not miss out on the opportunity to participate in local HAF schemes.
- Ensuring there are accessible playgrounds with clear accountability in central government at Ministerial, Mayoral and local council level for children’s playgrounds so disabled children are not excluded from accessing playgrounds.
- Free, accessible transport for disabled children so that families with disabled children, who are more likely to need to use public transport, can use buses and trams for free at all times of the day.
Today’s report includes testimonies taken from responses to The Big Future survey highlighting the importance of play and access to equal opportunities:
- “There should be more access to sports, drama, music and youth clubs and activities after school and at the weekends/in the holidays … Children in special schools need more access to these kinds of extracurricular activities too as they are very limited for this group of children and young people.” – Adult on behalf of 14-year-old boy with SEND.
- “Accessible music clubs for low-income families. Wider range of youth clubs and holiday clubs for a range of abilities and finances.” – Adult on behalf of 12-year-old child with SEND.
- “[I would like] free / cheap clubs that I can go. Like dancing, gymnastics, crafts or even martial arts. All the clubs in the area that do these things can be quite expensive for me and my sisters.” – Adult on behalf of 7-year-old girl with SEND
- “More holiday clubs and other clubs for SEND kids that are funded. Some you can only go to if LA will pay and not everyone gets short breaks” – Adult on behalf of 10-year-old boy with SEND.
- “There isn’t much for me to do, I can’t go to holiday club or to activities after school because I have a TA [teaching assistant]. My mummy does lots of fun things with me but I have no brothers and no sisters only my cat and so I get lonely. I would like to be able to do some of the activities my friends do like football after school.” – Adult of behalf of 8-year-old boy with SEND.
- “There are no holiday clubs near my house, and we do not have a car so I can’t go to one. It isn’t very safe to walk around there are lots of gangs on bikes they scare me.” – Adult on behalf of 9-year-old boy with SEND.
