MSP Gillian Martin welcomes changes to payments for Scottish families
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Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin has welcomed changes to make sure families in the north-east get support they are entitled to.
It comes after the Scottish Government announced plans to automatically pay the Best Start Grant Early Learning and School Age Payments to parents and carers who already receive the Scottish Child Payment when their children become eligible.
The change will be introduced later this year when the Scottish Child Payment is extended to under-16s and increased to £25 per child, per week.
The decision builds on extensive work already done to make applying for the Scottish Government’s five family payments as straightforward as possible.
It includes the ability to apply for all children in a household on a single form.
The form can be completed online, by phone or on paper.
Parents and carers also contributed to the design of the form to make sure the language was clear and easy to navigate.
Commenting, MSP Gillian Martin said: “This is a welcome step to help ease the process families have to go through to access support.
“Tackling child poverty is a key mission for the Scottish Government and automating payments, where we already have all of the information we need to do so, will mean parents and carers automatically getting the financial support they are eligible for paid directly to them.
“I welcome this move which will go towards ensuring a positive impact on take up rates which could help to reduce and prevent child poverty and support family wellbeing.
“Since launching Best Start Grant in December 2018, more than 177,000 payments have been made, totalling £55.3million in support, to families who need it most.”
