Best Start Grant Kinship Carers Scotland

Best Start Grants are one-off cash payments from Social Security Scotland at three developmental milestones, and kinship carers get a rule that most parents don't: the higher first-child rate on the Pregnancy and Baby Payment even if you already have biological children. Combined, the three grants can put up to £1,460.55 toward the cost of raising a kinship child.

The Three Payments

Pregnancy and Baby Payment — £796.65 for a first child, £398.35 for a subsequent child (2026-27 rates). Kinship carers taking on a child under 6 months old can receive the higher £796.65 rate regardless of how many children they already have, because the child is a new arrival in their care.

Early Learning Payment — £331.95 as a one-off payment when the child is aged 2 to 3 years and 6 months.

School Age Payment — £331.95 as a one-off payment during the year the child reaches primary school entry age.

All three are paid directly into your bank account. They are tax-free and do not count as income for Universal Credit, Pension Credit, or any other means-tested benefit.

Eligibility for Kinship Carers

You qualify if you're responsible for the child and you or your partner receive at least one qualifying benefit: Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Scottish Child Payment, Child Tax Credit, Income Support, income-based JSA, or income-related ESA.

If you already receive the Scottish Child Payment, you've cleared the qualifying benefit hurdle. In fact, if you're already getting SCP when the Early Learning or School Age eligibility window opens, Social Security Scotland may award those payments automatically — no separate application needed.

There's no requirement for a court order or formal kinship care arrangement. Informal kinship carers qualify on the same terms as anyone else, as long as the qualifying benefit condition is met and the child lives with them.

The Kinship Placement Exception

The Pregnancy and Baby Payment has a standard higher rate of £796.65 for a first child, while subsequent children receive £398.35. Kinship carers have an exception when a child arrives in their care within the eligibility window.

Kinship carers get an exception. When a child arrives in your care and you apply within the eligibility window (birth to 6 months of age), the child is treated as a new placement. The higher first-child rate of £796.65 applies even if you have biological children or other kinship children already living with you.

This exception recognises that a kinship placement involves sudden startup costs — a cot, clothing, feeding equipment — regardless of how many children are already in the household.

How to Apply

Apply through mygov.scot or by calling 0800 182 2222. You can submit a combined application covering Best Start Grant, Best Start Foods, and the Scottish Child Payment all at once.

For the Pregnancy and Baby Payment, apply within the eligibility window: from 24 weeks of pregnancy (if you know the child is coming) to 6 months after the child's birth. Applying late means losing the payment entirely — there's no backdating.

Early Learning and School Age Payments have broader windows, and if you're receiving SCP they often process automatically. Check your bank statements around the child's second birthday and again around primary school entry.

Best Start Foods

Alongside the grants, Best Start Foods provides a prepaid Mastercard topped up every four weeks for healthy food purchases: £44.80 per four weeks for a child under 1 year old, and £22.40 per four weeks for a child aged 1 to 3. The application is combined with the Best Start Grant form.

How These Interact With Your Kinship Allowance

Best Start Grants and Best Start Foods are fully protected from council deductions. If you receive a kinship care allowance under the Scottish Recommended Allowance framework, the council cannot reduce your payment based on Best Start awards.

These payments are also fully disregarded as capital under Universal Credit rules. A lump sum from the Pregnancy and Baby Payment won't push you over the UC savings threshold or trigger any benefit reduction.

For a complete walkthrough of how Best Start Grants fit within the full kinship financial support system — alongside the council allowance, Child Benefit, SCP, and Universal Credit — see the Scotland kinship financial help guide.

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