What is Sure Start Maternity Grant?

Full Definition

The Sure Start Maternity Grant is a one-off payment of 500 pounds, paid to help with the costs of preparing for a new baby, available to expectant or new parents who are already receiving a qualifying means-tested benefit, such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, or Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the family element (for those still on legacy Tax Credits). The payment does not need to be repaid and does not count as income for the purposes of other means-tested benefits. A key restriction is that the grant is normally only available where the claimant has no other children under 16 already living with them, on the basis that the grant is intended to help with the initial costs of baby equipment that a family without other young children is less likely to already own. An exception applies where the pregnancy or birth is a multiple birth (twins, triplets, or more) and there are already other children under 16 in the household, since a multiple birth still generates additional first-time costs (an extra cot, car seat, and so on) regardless of whether older children are present. Claims must generally be made from 11 weeks before the baby's due date, and up to 6 months (in England and Wales) or 3 months (in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the equivalent Scottish and Northern Irish grants have replaced the DWP scheme with broadly similar but not identical rules) after the birth, supported by evidence such as a MATB1 certificate confirming the pregnancy or a signed confirmation from a healthcare professional after the birth. Scotland operates its own equivalent, the Pregnancy and Baby Payment (part of the Best Start Grant), which pays a broadly similar amount but without the same "no other children under 16" restriction, making it more widely available to larger Scottish families than the equivalent DWP grant in the rest of the UK.

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