Take-up rates of Scottish benefits - 2026

Local Authority Take-Up Rate Estimates

The following maps and tables show estimated take-up rates for Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Foods across local authorities in Scotland for 2025-26. Maps of take-up for both benefits for Northern, Southern and Central Scotland can be found in annex B.

Scottish Child Payment

For Scottish Child payment, estimated take-up rates (for all children under 16) range from the lowest estimates of 93% for East Dunbartonshire, to the highest estimate of 98% for Dumfries and Galloway, Falkirk, North Ayrshire, and South Ayrshire. A breakdown of the take-up rates for Scottish Child Payment across Scotland is given below in map 1 and table 3:

Best Start Foods

For Best Start Foods, estimated take-up rates range from the lowest estimates of 76% for Aberdeenshire, to the highest estimate of 88% for Dundee City, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire. A breakdown of the take-up rates for Best Start Foods across Scotland is given below in map 2 and table 4:

Estimates for Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands and Na h-Eileanan Siar are not included for Best Start Foods, because the number of recipients is deemed to be below the minimum threshold required for confidence in estimates.

Analysis of Local Authority Take-up Rates

The local authority distribution of take-up rate estimates for Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Foods share some similarities. The overall take-up rate of Scottish Child Payment (96%) in 2025-26 was significantly higher than Best Start Foods (85%). So as expected, every local authority in Scotland has a lower take-up rate for Best Start Foods than Scottish Child Payment. The median difference in take-up for Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Foods for local authorities is 13 percentage points, very similar to the difference at the national level (11 percentage points).

The distribution of take-up rates across local authorities is more variable for Best Start Foods than Scottish Child Payment. The gap between the highest (98%) and lowest (93%) take-up rate for Scottish Child Payment is 5 percentage points. For Best Start Foods the gap is 12 percentage points (88% and 76%). For both payments, the difference between the highest and lowest take-up rates in 2025-26 has decreased since 2024-25, largely driven by increases in take-up in local authorities who had low take-up rates in previous years. The much smaller eligible population for Best Start Foods, and methodology used to estimate local authority take-up rates for Best Start Foods, contribute to the greater variation between local authorities.

For local authorities, there is a moderate to strong positive correlation between their take-up rate of Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Foods. Of the ten local authorities with the highest take-up rates for Scottish Child Payment, six are in the ten highest ranked local authorities for Best Start Foods’ take-up. Similarly, of the ten local authorities with the lowest take-up rates for Scottish Child Payment, eight are also in the ten lowest ranked local authorities for Best Start Foods’ take-up. Therefore, where Scottish Child Payment take-up is higher, take-up also tends to be higher for Best Start Foods, and vice versa.

For both Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Foods, there is a positive correlation between local authority take-up rates and Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) rank by local share. For Scottish Child Payment, this correlation is weak, while for Best Start Foods, the correlation is stronger. SIMD rank by local share for a local authority suggests higher levels of deprivation, which means deprivation can be considered a reasonably good predictor of take-up for both Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Foods. Compared to 2024-25, correlation between Scottish Child Payment take-up rates and SIMD rank fell, reflecting that Scottish Child Payment varied less between local authorities in 2025-26.

There is a weak negative correlation between rurality and take-up rates for Best Start Foods, and a negligible correlation between rurality and take-up rates for Scottish Child Payment, using the Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification. This suggests a weak negative association between a local authority’s rurality and take-up rate for Best Start Foods (more rural areas are more likely to have lower take-up).