The latest statistics on Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods

New figures have been released today on Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods covering the period 10 December 2018 to 31 December 2019.

The Best Start Grant includes three types of payment: Pregnancy and Baby Payment (applications taken from 10 December 2018), Early Learning Payment (applications taken from 29 April 2019) and School Age Payment (applications taken from 3 June 2019).

Best Start Foods is a new payment that replaces the UK Government’s Healthy Start Vouchers in Scotland. Best Start Foods replaced Healthy Start Vouchers for new claims in Scotland from 12 August 2019.

Stakeholders can access more information and resources on Best Start Grant or Best Start Foods by visiting the Social Security Scotland website. People can check eligibility and apply for these benefits on the mygov.scot website.

Key figures from the new report are highlighted below:

• 120,700 applications for Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods were received between 10 December 2018 and 31 December 2019.
• In total, £21.3 million had been paid to clients by 31 December 2019 for Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods.
  

• £9.1 million (43%) of payments was for Pregnancy and Baby Payment

• £6.9 million (33%) was for Early Learning Payment

• £4.2 million (20%) was for School Age Payment

• Overall, £1.0 million (5%) was paid for Best Start Foods by the end of December 2019

• The number of applications received in November (11,460) was the highest in any month since June 2019.
• The vast majority of applications continue to be made online. The proportion of total applications made online increased from 87% in October 2019 to 92% in November 2019.

The full report can be accessed on the Scottish Government website.