The Welfare Foods (Best Start Foods) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2023: business and regulatory impact assessment

Competition Assessment

The Scottish Government does not believe that the amendments to BSF will have an adverse impact on the competitiveness of Scottish companies or the third sector within Scotland, the UK, elsewhere in Europe or the rest of the world. These benefits do not directly or indirectly limit the number of suppliers, nor do they limit the ability of suppliers to compete or reduce suppliers’ incentives to compete vigorously. Additionally, the Scottish Government have reached out to advice groups such as Child Poverty Action Group and One Parent Families Scotland and does not expect there to be any significant impact on the operational business of local authorities or health boards as a result of introducing the amendments to BSF.

Any procurement required to support the administration of BSF will be subject to the Public Contracts (Scotland) 2015 Regulations^[24] and the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014^[25] which together provides a national legislative framework for sustainable public procurement. The Regulations and the Act provide the statutory foundations for the Scottish Model of Procurement.

Will the measure directly or indirectly limit the number or range of suppliers? No

Will the measure limit the ability of suppliers to compete? No

Will the measure limit suppliers’ incentives to compete vigorously? No

Will the measure limit the choices and information available to consumers? No