HAF Annual Report 2024/25

Funding from the Department of Education (DfE), and the role of the steering group.

Funding of £1,243,730 was made available to Buckinghamshire Council by the Department for Education to deliver the HAF programme during 2024/25.

The total HAF programme expenditure for 2023/24 was £1,243,373. This included a proportion of programme funding allocated to programme administration (for staffing and staff-related costs) of £124,373.

Quality assurance plays a critical role in the HAF programme. The Early Years HAF team works closely with the Early Years Service's Improvement and Development (IaD) Team. Together, they organise quality assurance visits to all providers and venues each delivery period.

Within these visits, members of the IaD team check:

• The HAF's framework of standards are being delivered to a high standard
• sessions are being delivered safely
• the voice of young people engaged in HAF is welcomed during these visits.

The visit reports from each delivery period are then reviewed for consistent recommendations to providers. These then become the focus areas for the next delivery period. This ensures that previous actions are revisited during any future visits to ensure they are put into place.

These quality assurance visits are vital to maintain HAF's high standards and allow for a quick response to any incidents identified.

In line with government guidance, a steering group has been established for the Buckinghamshire programme. This supportive steering group works in partnership with the Council to plan and promote the delivery of the programme. It ensures that the right partners continue to be engage with HAF.

The steering group includes representatives from:

• youth services
• public health
• safeguarding leads
• communications
• Early Help
• SEND team
• FACT Bucks (the parent and carer forum for Buckinghamshire)
• LEAP
• Thames Valley Police
• local charities and voluntary sector organisations

The Buckinghamshire HAF steering group meets regularly to support the oversight of the programme.