Almost £13m paid out to poor families by Scottish Government in seven months

Almost £13 million has been paid out to poorer families in seven months under the Scottish Government's Best Start grant scheme.

Shirley-Anne Somerville

Between December last year, when the initiative started, and June this year, Social Security Scotland has made more than 42,000 payments to families in Scotland, totalling £12.9m.

Social security secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville hailed the "exceptional" response to the scheme, which pays out grants to families in receipt of some benefits, to help with the expenses of pregnancy and having a baby.

Between December and June families received £6.1m assistance from the Pregnancy and Baby Payment, which replaced the UK Government's Sure Start Maternity Grant in Scotland.

That compares to £2 million paid out under the UK Government scheme in the whole of 2017/18.

Meanwhile two new payments introduced as part of the Best Start Grant, the Early Learning Payment and the School Age Payment, have paid out £4.3m and £2.4m respectively.

Ms Somerville met parents who had benefited from the payments at the Kelty Community Centre in Fife.

She said: "I have a two-year-old daughter with learning difficulties and was able to use the Early Learning Payment to buy sensory equipment for her to use in the garden.

"And with another wee one on the way I will shortly be able to apply for a £300 Pregnancy and Baby Payment that I wouldn't have been entitled to under the old system."

Ms Somerville said: "The response we have had to the new Best Start Grant is absolutely exceptional and I am delighted we have made almost £13m in payments.

"What this means is that in just seven months we have provided low income families with over £10m of additional support that would not have been available to them under the old DWP system in a whole year.

"Alongside increasing the financial support for eligible parents, we have removed the UK's previous one child limit, reaching children who would have received nothing from the Sure Start Maternity Grant.

"And we have created two new payments to support families during key stages of a child's life.

"For a two-child family, the Best Start Grant package will provide total support of £1900 -£1400 more than they would get under the previous UK system.

"This shows the direct difference we are making to families across Scotland with our new powers over social security."