Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what its estimated cost for 2026-27 is of (a) uprating the Scottish Child Payment and (b) introducing the £40 weekly payment for under-one-year-olds.
The cost of uprating Scottish Child Payment for 2026-27 will be around £17.7 million.
Estimated costings of the premium relating to children under the age of one were included in the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s report, Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – January 2026. It estimated that around 12,000 children will receive this increased support once the payment is delivered, with estimated costs of £3.5 million (part-year) in 2027-28 and around £7 million (full-year) in 2028-29.