Best Start Foods, Best Start Grants and Scottish Child Payment (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2022: scrutiny report

The draft Regulations were referred to SCoSS on 22 March 2022 and an amended version referred on 12 April 2022 which added, for example, the increase of Scottish Child Payment to £25. This report refers to the amended version.  Our timeline for scrutiny is in Annex 1 at the end of this report.

SCoSS scrutinises regulations made under powers contained in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. Best Start Foods is not a type of social security included in the Act and is not within SCoSS’s remit. However, the two amendments to Best Start Foods duplicate those in Best Start Grants and Scottish Child Payment. Our comments on these apply equally to Best Starts Foods.

We asked external stakeholders (see Annex 2) for their views on the draft Regulations. We also welcomed the views of stakeholders’ clients in their lived experience with Best Start Grant and Scottish Child Payment. SCoSS would like to thank all those who took the time to give their views. Contributions have been most insightful and have informed our report.

We are also pleased to have had the opportunity to learn more about the delivery perspective during our regular meetings with Social Security Scotland.

In preparing the report, SCoSS has had regard to, and comments on human rights, the social security principles and Our Charter.