Best Start Grant: interim evaluation

Annex A: Additional statistical information

1. Number of Issued Payments by Benefit Component and Month to 31 August 2020

Issued month	Benefit Component			Total number of payments
	Early Learning Payment	Pregnancy And Baby Payment	School Age Payment
Dec-18	0	1,200	0	1,200
Jan-19	0	5,700	0	5,700
Feb-19	0	1,770	0	1,770
Mar-19	0	2,005	0	2,005
Apr-19	0	1,695	0	1,695
May-19	10,520	1,680	0	12,200
Jun-19	5,390	1,415	8,060	14,865
Jul-19	4,305	1,710	5,595	11,610
Aug-19	1,755	1,380	1,385	4,520
Sep-19	1,280	970	670	2,925
Oct-19	1,295	1,160	410	2,865
Nov-19	1,440	1,300	340	3,080
Dec-19	865	830	185	1,880
Jan-20	1,595	1,440	275	3,305
Feb-20	1,285	1,180	290	2,750
Mar-20	1,535	1,115	665	3,320
Apr-20	1,250	1,035	350	2,635
May-20	1,180	1,565	65	2,810
Jun-20	915	1,190	2,110	4,215
Jul-20	1,090	790	7,085	8,965
Aug-20	2,045	1,235	5,055	8,330
Total	37,740	32,365	32,535	102,640

2. Occurrence of Child 'Relationship Types' linked to BSG Payments data – by Benefit Type to 31 August 2020¹

Occurrence of Child Relationship Types in Payments	Benefit component			Total number of payments
	Early Learning Payment	Pregnancy And Baby Payment	School Age Payment
Child	37,480	29,190	32,325	99,000
Cared for by family member (Kinship caring)	560	540	395	1,495
Other	45	125	45	215
Unknown/missing info	1,210	2,560	825	4,595
Total	39,295	32,415	33,590	105,300

3. Distribution of each 'Benefit type' by SIMD quintiles to 31 August 2020

SIMD 2020 v2 Quintile	Benefit component			Total number of payments
	Early Learning Payment	Pregnancy And Baby Payment	School Age Payment
Unknown/missing	130	160	70	355
1	17,360	14,860	14,240	46,455
2	9,890	8,455	8,600	26,945
3	5,540	4,855	4,990	15,385
4	3,385	2,795	3,230	9,410
5	1,440	1,240	1,410	4,090
Total	37,740	32,365	32,535	102,640

4. Breakdown for each "Benefit type" by Family Structure to 31 August 2020²

Family Type	Benefit component			Total number of payments
	Early Learning Payment	Pregnancy And Baby Payment	School Age Payment
Partnership parents with First Child/Pregnancy	5,840	0	6,070	11,910
Partnership parents with Multiple Children	9,145	10,205	6,835	26,185
Partnership parents with Unknown Children	35	3,625	20	3,685
Single parent with First Child/Pregnancy	12,930	0	12,150	25,080
Single parent with Multiple Children	9,720	11,820	7,405	28,945
Single parent with Unknown Children	65	6,675	55	6,800
Unknown parents with Unknown Children	5	35	5	40
Total	37,740	32,365	32,535	102,640

5. Breakdown for each "Benefit type" by parents'/applicants' age group to 31 August 2020

Age Band	Benefit component			Total number of payments
	Early Learning Payment	Pregnancy And Baby Payment	School Age Payment
Age Unknown3	5	35	5	40
Under 18	15	620	0	635
18-24	7,390	9,225	3,015	19,630
25-29	11,435	9,865	8,985	30,285
30-34	10,000	7,605	9,705	27,305
35-39	6,085	3,850	6,570	16,505
40-44	2,160	955	3,105	6,225
45-49	425	140	845	1,410
50-54	125	40	165	325
55-59	65	15	85	165
60-64	30	5	45	80
65 and over	5	5	25	35
Total	37,740	32,365	32,535	102,640

6. Distribution of each 'Benefit type' by local authority areas to 31 August 2020

Local Authority	Benefit component			Total number of payments
	Early Learning Payment	Pregnancy And Baby Payment	School Age Payment
Aberdeen City	1,105	1,010	875	2,995
Aberdeenshire	890	755	740	2,385
Angus	715	640	695	2,055
Argyll & Bute	450	405	410	1,265
Clackmannanshire	435	335	415	1,185
Dumfries & Galloway	1,065	865	885	2,810
Dundee City	1,420	1,205	1,175	3,800
East Ayrshire	1,170	1,020	985	3,175
East Dunbartonshire	365	310	370	1,050
East Lothian	640	540	560	1,740
East Renfrewshire	330	295	315	945
Edinburgh, City of	2,290	1,885	1,940	6,115
Falkirk	1,095	960	920	2,975
Fife	2,935	2,500	2,470	7,905
Glasgow City	6,445	5,565	5,500	17,515
Highland	1,265	1,075	1,015	3,360
Inverclyde	660	555	575	1,790
Midlothian	740	570	595	1,905
Moray	525	465	465	1,455
Na h-Eileanan Siar	115	95	100	310
North Ayrshire	1,375	1,115	1,150	3,640
North Lanarkshire	2,965	2,640	2,685	8,290
Orkney Islands	75	75	85	230
Perth & Kinross	730	680	620	2,030
Renfrewshire	1,325	1,110	1,095	3,530
Scottish Borders	605	555	545	1,705
Shetland Islands	85	60	65	210
South Ayrshire	790	660	715	2,165
South Lanarkshire	2,285	2,005	1,995	6,285
Stirling	415	385	345	1,150
West Dunbartonshire	945	830	825	2,600
West Lothian	1,475	1,135	1,390	4,000
Unknown - Scottish address 4	5	40	5	55
Non-Scottish postcode	10	15	5	30
No address	0	0	0	0
Total	37,740	32,365	32,535	102,640

7. Occurrence of Qualifying Benefit Types in applications linked to Payments data, by "Qualifying benefit" to 31 August 2020⁵

Qualifying Benefit	Benefit component			Total number of payments
	Early Learning Payment	Pregnancy And Baby Payment	School Age Payment
Universal Credit	15,045	17,780	11,985	44,810
Income Support	8,280	3,290	6,460	18,030
Housing Benefit	660	1,240	275	2,175
Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance	625	625	455	1,705
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance	2,560	2,270	2,075	6,905
Pension Credit	20	5	20	45
Working Tax Credit	9,140	5,365	9,060	23,560
Child Tax Credit	23,010	13,420	20,625	57,055
Other or missing6	40	280	50	370
Total	59,385	44,265	51,005	154,655

Notes

This supplementary analysis was carried out using the same data used in the production of the Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods official statistics publication.

All Tables: Payment figures have been allocated according to the month the payment was issued, rather than the month it was received by a client.

All Tables: Figures are rounded for disclosure control and may not sum due to rounding.

1. Data on 'Relationship type' is linked to payments through a separate data extract on children appearing in the Social Security benefits data. It is not possible to link a specific payment to an individual child or relationship type and so these figures reflect the occurrence of relationship types of any children linked to Application Reference Numbers occurring in the payments extract. The total figures in this table will therefore not match the total number of payments seen in other tables.

2. Family Type is a constructed variable. This was based on the presence/absence of a 'Partner Flag' in the core extract and the evidence of pre-existing dependent children, or multiple births occurring in the core extract and/or the child extract.

3. Under 18 includes some possible errors in date of birth.

4. Some applications cannot be matched to a Scottish local authority by postcode, because the postcode on the application is not on the lookup file used to match postcode to local authority. These may be applications from people living in properties that are too new to be on the lookup file. Payments have been assigned to Scotland based on postcode area. Payments with 'Unknown' local authorities also include a small number of payments which cannot be linked to the full applicant details.

5. Data on 'Qualifying benefit' is linked to payments through a separate data extract on Applications data. There are often multiple qualifying benefits linked to applications and so the total figures in this table will therefore not match the total number of payments seen in other tables.

6. "Other or missing" includes no or unknown qualifying benefit, and cases where Social Fund, Sure Start Maternity Grant and Child Benefit were the qualifying benefit.

How to access background or source data

The data collected for this social research publication:

☐ are available in more detail through Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics

☐ are available via an alternative route

☒ may be made available on request, subject to consideration of legal and ethical factors. Please contact social_research@gov.scot for further information.

☐ cannot be made available by Scottish Government for further analysis as Scottish Government is not the data controller.