Approval of £350k grant to improve health and wellbeing of Warwickshire pupils

Last week, Cllr Peter Butlin, Deputy Leader for Finance and Property approved the addition of £304,268 of the Healthy Pupils Capital Fund (HPCF) to the 2018/19 capital programme and a direct allocation to all Warwickshire maintained schools to support in addressing their individual priorities. 

A number of different options for allocation of this funding were put forward for consideration in the proposal document. The final decision of the Deputy Leader was made to pass on the per-school amount received from the DfE, to enable all pupils of community, foundation and voluntary controlled schools in Warwickshire to benefit from the funding. A minimum and maximum allocation will be imposed to ensure smaller schools receive proportionally greater amounts than larger schools.

Cllr Butlin also agreed to a proposal being worked on for the remaining £50,000 of the HPCF to contribute towards the capital expenses of developing school breakfast clubs and other food provision initiatives to encourage healthy eating, especially in deprived areas. A separate report on this will be submitted for approval in the near future.

The funding, allocated to Warwickshire County Council from the Department for Education, is provided from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy for 2018/19 and must be used to improve the physical and mental health of children and young people by improving and increasing availability to facilities for physical activity, healthy eating, mental health and wellbeing and medical conditions.

There has been no indication from government that this grant will be repeated in future years.

Large multi-academy trusts (MATs) will receive funding directly from the DfE, whilst single and small academy trusts will have the opportunity to bid for HPCF through the Condition Improvement Fund.