Best Start Grants

Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods are payments that help towards the costs of being pregnant or looking after a child. They’re part of the 5 family payments you may be able to get from Social Security Scotland, along with Scottish Child Payment.

The Best Start Grant is a package of 3 Scottish benefits to help parents and carers on low incomes with the costs of having a child in the family.

The 3 payments are:

• the Pregnancy and Baby Payment - a one-off payment of £707.25 for a first child or £353.65 for a second or later child. It can be paid during pregnancy or until the baby is 6 months old in most cases. It could help you pay for maternity clothes, a cot or a pram

• the Early Learning Payment - a one-off payment of £294.70 if your child is between 2 and 3-and-a-half years old. It could help you pay for day trips, books or toys for home learning

• the School Age Payment – a one-off payment of £294.70 if your child is around school starting age. It could help you pay for a new school bag, school trips or after school activities.

The 3 payments are grants, not loans, so you do not have to pay them back. You can decide how you want to spend the money.

Further information can be found via the below helpful links:

Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods - mygov.scot

Claim Healthy Start vouchers

If someone is more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, they may be able to get help to buy healthy food and milk.
Check if you’re eligible for Healthy Start vouchers