Haringey Council has allocated £1.99 million to provide free school meal vouchers for eligible children during school holidays, continuing support for low-income families. Data from Autumn 2022 shows that over 7,700 (27%) of Haringey students attending Haringey schools are eligible for free school meals. The funding is part of a broader initiative to support vulnerable households facing financial hardship, building on previous support provided in 2024/25.
The allocation was approved by Councillor Seema Chandwani, Cabinet Member for Resident Services & Tackling Inequality, as part of the Household Support Fund. The fund, provided by the government, totals £4,241,687.45 for the period of 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, and aims to help residents with essential costs like energy, food, and water bills.
The council aims to support vulnerable households, prevent crises, and provide assistance with dignity. The Public reports pack for the Cabinet Member Signing meeting on 8 October 2025, details how the funding will be distributed. In addition to the free school meal vouchers, £1.23 million has been allocated for direct cash payments to families in financial stress with children ineligible for free school meals, pensioner households in financial stress, low-income households with children under 5, payments to care leavers and households with no recourse to public funds.
Direct cash payments of £195 will also be made to households in financial stress with a disabled claimant or partner, and households in receipt of Council Tax Support and/or Housing Benefit with a disabled child. An additional £544,000 will go to the Haringey Support Fund, an application-based process for households needing extra support. £15,000 will be allocated to voluntary and community sector organisations for warm spaces, and £66,000 to the Council Tax Discretionary Hardship Fund, offering one-off payments towards Council Tax bills for those experiencing exceptional financial hardship.
The council will use a data-driven approach to distribute the majority of funds, minimising administration costs and ensuring those most in need are supported without having to make a claim. A proportion of the funding will be available to claim through the Haringey Support Fund. All support will be available to households with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) in line with government guidance, such as if there is a genuine care need that does not arise solely from destitution, for example if there are community care needs, serious health problems, or a risk to a child's wellbeing.
The Printed minutes from the meeting note that the council will work with voluntary and community sector partners to promote awareness of the application-based scheme and encourage applications from hard-to-reach communities.
The Agenda frontsheet for the meeting indicates that the decision was made to approve the allocations policy for this phase of funding. The policy is subject to the availability of government funding and will terminate on 31 March 2026 if government funding is not extended. Authority is delegated to the Delivery Director Tackling Inequality to extend the policy if government increases funding or extends the eligible period. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will make quarterly payments in arrears after receiving quarterly monitoring information from the Council. A robust process is in place to manage the Fund, which will be administered within the current budgets and resources available to the service.