Holiday Hub steering group notes

Attendees

• Lynne Binnie
• Euan McLeod
• Diane Aitken
• Emma Parker
• Andrea Robinson
• Joanne Wheldon
• Stephanie Spencer
• Anna Savage
• Toni Edwards
• Carolyn Samson
• Lesley Gould

Summer 2026

Euan gave a round-up of the spaces taken over summer. A total of 123 spaces were available each week. Total weekly attendances throughout summer 2026 are listed below.

Reasons for declined spaces included holiday, accessing alternative provision, medical / illness, lack of preferred venue or transport, and the child not wanting to attend.

Summary of 2026-27 Applications

A summary of applications for the 2026-27 holiday hub provision is available below.

• Total applications – 444
• Total applications attended before – 321
• Total applications new to provision – 123
• Total applications accepted – 407
• Total applications declined – 36
• Total applications withdrawn – 1

2026-27 Provision

Confirming Allocations

EM updated that we are asking parents to confirm their acceptance of the offered support allocation as full year letters are being sent out this year.  We hope this will reduce the volume of chasing up required after payment deadlines throughout the year and help us earlier identify any spaces available to re-allocate.

Re-allocating unconfirmed or unpaid spaces

EM updated that officers intend to take a firmer line on re-allocating spaces that remain unconfirmed or unpaid at the payment deadline. Deadlines are being moved forward within the 2026-27 provision. Reminders will be sent out prior to each deadline.

A grace period of 7 days after the deadline will be observed to allow for any late payments. Spaces will then be re-allocated shortly thereafter in a bid to tackle empty spaces around the hubs. Discussion took place around the need for sensitivity in exceptional cases. Officers will be as vigilant and sensitive as reasonably possible.

Families with concerns or issues with their allocation should contact the holiday hub mailbox and we are happy to discuss.

Payment Confirmation Emails

EM updated the group that CEC will no longer send duplicate "payment confirmed with thanks" emails from the holiday hub mailbox. Parents / carers will receive an automated email at the point of payment on the CEC website. This should be considered confirmation that a space is paid for and confirmed going forward. Anyone unsure whether their payment was successful can contact the holiday hub mailbox for confirmation if required.

Feedback Gathering

Officers have agreed with activity providers to centralise feedback gathering efforts in a bid to capture better quality information. CEC will distribute feedback forms to parents / carers at the end of each holiday period and circulate the relevant feedback to the activity providers. Steering Group members are asked to encourage parents to interact with this process.

New provider update

Officers continue to progress attempts to onboard a new activity provider to the holiday hubs provision. Work is under way with a prospective new provider to identify suitable venues for them to register with the Care Inspectorate. Registration of venues with the Care Inspectorate can take time but we are doing everything we can to confirm them to the provision as quickly as possible.

Any other competent business (AOCB)

Waiting list discussion

Lynne raised the issue that the group need to decide whether to operate a waiting list system for spaces that become available in the 2026-27 provision. Lynne made clear that operating a waiting list would mean any spaces available for re-allocation would be offered to participants outside of the provision who missed the application deadline of 3 June 2026. This would reduce or remove the likelihood that anybody within the provision would access an extra / fourth week of support.

Consensus amongst the group when this topic was raised in May 2026 was that the process should remain unchanged for now and no new applications should be accepted. As the group lacked majority consensus when discussing the topic at this meeting, this approach will continue for the 2026-27 provision.

2026-27 payment closing dates

Steering Group members are asked to circulate these payment deadline dates around their networks, and encourage any families with concerns to contact us via email via the holiday support mailbox.