Key facts
•A Best Start grant currently comprises a one-off payment for women who are pregnant or who have recently given birth – called a pregnancy and baby payment.
•From summer 2019, the Best Start grant will also include amounts to help with the costs of young children – called an early learning payment and a school-age payment.
•Best Start grants are not means tested, but you must usually receive a qualifying benefit to qualify.
•You do not need to have paid national insurance contributions to qualify.
•Best Start grants are administered and paid by Social Security Scotland.
•If you disagree with a decision about a Best Start grant, you can request a redetermination (see Chapter 75), or appeal against it (see Chapter 75). You must request a redetermination before you can appeal.
Future changes
At some point in 2019, the Healthy Start scheme (see
here) is expected to be known as ’Best Start foods’ in Scotland and the rules will be different (see Chapter 40).