The Welfare Foods (Best Start Foods) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2023: equality impact assessment

Executive Summary

Best Start Foods (BSF) is a social security payment delivered by Social Security Scotland. BSF aims to tackle the impacts of child poverty by improving access to healthy foods and milk for eligible families on a low income. BSF provides eligible pregnant persons and families with children under the age of three with a minimum of £4.95 a week via a payment card to purchase healthy foods and milk.

This Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA) has been developed to accompany the Welfare Foods (Best Start Foods) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2023. As such, the focus of this EqIA is the changes that these regulations will make to BSF. This impact assessment builds on the EqIA that was produced prior to launch of BSF^[1] and prior to the introduction of the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendment and Transitional Provision) (Scotland) Regulations 2022^[2] which made subsequent changes to BSF.

The primary purpose of these regulations is to meet the Ministerial commitment to remove income thresholds for all qualifying benefits for BSF in 2023-24. They will also align eligibility criteria and processes more closely with Best Start Grant (BSG) and Scottish Child Payment (SCP), and make some changes to the rules around payments.

A corresponding Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment, an Islands Communities Impact Screening, a Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment and a Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment have also been produced.

These amendment regulations will make the following changes to BSF:

• Ensuring entitlement to BSF continues for a period of eight weeks when entitlement to Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Income Support, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit or Housing Benefit ends.
• Making 18 and 19 year old dependants who are pregnant eligible without the need for a qualifying benefit, as long as they meet the relevant residency conditions. If the pregnant person stops being a dependant before the end of the pregnancy, eligibility will continue until the end of that pregnancy.
• Aligning the eligibility criteria for partners of pregnant persons with that of pregnant persons.
• Making the individual who an eligible pregnant person is dependent on and the partner of that individual, entitled to receive BSF. If the pregnant person stops being a dependant before the pregnancy has ended, the individual will remain eligible until the end of the pregnancy.
• Amending the eligibility rules for children so that children under three are eligible if the individual responsible for them or the partner of that individual:
  • is under 18,
  • is a dependant aged 18 or 19 years old, or
  • was eligible to receive BSF during pregnancy due to being under 18 or a dependant aged 18 or 19 years old.

If the individual responsible for the child turns 18 or ceases to be a dependant aged 18 or 19 years old before the child turns one, the child will continue to be eligible up until the child turns one or reaches the first anniversary of its estimated delivery date, whichever is later.

• Amending the residency requirements so that the individual responsible for a child under three or the partner of that individual must meet the residency conditions set out in regulation 9 in order for the child to be eligible for BSF.
• Amending the residency requirements so that whomever is acting on behalf of an entitled child who is under three must meet the residency conditions set out in regulation 9.
• Amending the residency requirements so that individuals who are 18 or 19 and a dependant must meet the further residency conditions set out in regulation 9(2).
• Removing the income thresholds which apply to certain qualifying benefits.
• Making Working Tax Credit a qualifying benefit in its own right.
• For BSF applicants who are in receipt of any qualifying benefit, ensuring that any deductions made from their qualifying benefit award due to sanctions or to pay any liability are disregarded. This will ensure that if an individual has a nil award because of these deductions, they will still be treated as being in receipt of the qualifying benefit and they will, therefore, be eligible for BSF. In all other circumstances, where the individual has a nil award or where the individual has received a qualifying benefit in error, the individual is not entitled to BSF.
• Ensuring that where BSF is being paid to the individual the pregnant person is dependent on or the partner of that individual and an application is received from the pregnant person and they are eligible, the pregnant person’s claim will be approved and the claim from the individual the pregnant person is dependent on or the partner of that individual will be ended.
• Where applications are received from two eligible individuals and neither is the pregnant person, allowing Scottish Ministers to decide who should be entitled to BSF, having regard to the circumstances of the pregnant person.
• Making clear that where they have legal capacity to be paid, entitled young persons can be paid in their own right and young parents of an entitled child who is under three can be paid on behalf of the child.
• Allowing payment on behalf of an entitled child who is under three to be made to the partner of the person who is responsible for the child.
• Allowing Scottish Ministers to pay whoever they consider appropriate on behalf of an entitled person.
• Amending the duty to report a change of circumstances so the duty is on the individual who is being paid BSF on behalf of the entitled person, or the entitled person if they are being paid in their own right.
• Allowing Scottish Ministers to make an appointee for an individual who is under 16 and is an entitled pregnant person, partner of a pregnant person or person responsible for a child under three. Such an appointee can only be made where there is no person who has authority to act on behalf of the individual, resides with the individual and is willing and practicably able to act on the individual’s behalf.
• Specifying that the higher payment of BSF paid from the date the child is born until the child turns one or reaches the first anniversary of its estimated delivery date, whichever is later, is double the lower payment.
• Allowing payments to be made in a way other than the prepaid card, where appropriate.
• Giving the Scottish Ministers a discretion to treat an application as having been made at a later date where Social Security Scotland can see that the individual who applied will become eligible within 10 days of their application date.
• Allowing a new decision to be made without having to receive a new application or review request where an individual has previously been determined as ineligible due to the lack of a qualifying benefit or child responsibility benefit and they have subsequently received a backdated award of their qualifying benefit or child responsibility benefit which covers the date of their original application.

In developing the Welfare Foods (Best Start Foods) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2023, the Scottish Government is mindful of the three needs of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) as set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 - eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic^[3] and those who do not and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Where any negative impacts have been identified, we have sought to mitigate or eliminate these. We are also mindful that the equality duty is not just about negating or mitigating negative impacts, as we also have a positive duty to promote equality. We are considering how best to work with under-represented groups and are tailoring our communications and engagement strategy to raise awareness and take-up of the payment in these groups. More broadly, fostering good relations is reflected in the guiding principles of dignity, fairness and respect and the vision for Social Security Scotland, as set out in Our Charter,^[4] with removing the stigma around applying for benefits central to this approach.

This EqIA assesses any impacts of applying a proposed new or revised policy or practice against the needs relevant to a public authority’s duty to meet the public sector equality duty.