Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods

Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods are payments that help towards the costs of being pregnant or looking after a child.

Best Start Grant is made up of 3 one-off payments:

• Pregnancy and Baby Payment: Pregnancy and Baby Payment helps with the costs of having a baby. You can apply for this payment during pregnancy to help prepare for your baby's arrival, or after your baby is born.
• Early Learning Payment: Early Learning Payment is a payment of £252.50 per child to help with the costs of early learning. You can get the payment when your child is aged between 2 years old and 3 years and 6 months old.
• School Age Payment: School Age Payment is a payment of £252.50 per child. It helps with the costs of preparing for school when your child is first old enough to start primary school.

Best Start Foods is a prepaid card that can help you buy healthy foods like milk or fruit, if one of the following applies to you. For example:

• you're pregnant
• you have a child under 3

You can use the card in shops and online. The amount you get on your prepaid card will change depending on the age of your child. The Best Start Foods payments are: *£18 every 4 weeks during pregnancy – the payment amount is per pregnancy. This means the payment amount is the same whether you're pregnant with one baby, or if you're having twins or triplets. *£36 every 4 weeks from your child being born up until they're one year old. *£18 every 4 weeks when your child is between the ages of one and 3 years old.

The payments you can get now will depend on: -how far along in your pregnancy you are. -how old your child is.

Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods are 2 separate payments. You apply for both Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods using the same form. This is to make sure you can get all the payments you can without having to fill in more than one form. You'll get separate letters to let you know whether you'll get each payment.

If you can get one payment now and another in the future, you'll need to fill in a new form each time you apply.

As well as Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods, you may be able to get other benefits to help towards the costs of supporting your family. This includes Scottish Child Payment. Scottish Child Payment is a weekly payment of £10 which you can get for every child you look after who's under 6 years old. You'll get the payment every 4 weeks if your application is successful.

You may be able to get Scottish Child Payment if all of the following apply:

• you and the child you're looking after live in Scotland.
• you or your partner are getting certain benefits or tax credits.
• you or your partner are the main person looking after a child who is under 6 years old. I f you want to apply for Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods as well as Scottish Child Payment, you can apply for all of them in the same form to save yourself some time.

You may be able to get Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods if all of the following apply:

• you live in Scotland
• you or your partner are getting certain benefits or tax credits
• you or your partner are pregnant, or are the main person looking after a baby or child who's the right age for a payment