Cost of SNP’s baby boxes soars fourfold to £27million
NICOLA Sturgeon’s pledge to give every new mother a box of baby goods is set to cost up to £27million a year – despite being branded a ‘gimmick’.
The Scottish Government has confirmed that, when storage and delivery is included, the average cost of a ‘baby box’ handed out during the current pilot scheme has been £500.
It means that the total cost of the scheme when it is rolled out to every new mum in Scotland will be up to £27.5million – four times what the SNP claimed it would cost.
Earlier this week, the scheme was branded a ‘gimmick’ by Miss Sturgeon’s poverty adviser, Naomi Eisenstadt, who said it would do little to address inequality.
The new figures, obtained by the Scottish Daily Mail following a freedom of information request, have sparked fears that it will require far more public money than first thought. Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘The Conservatives have long been sceptical of the SNP’s plans to provide costly baby boxes. The pilot scheme now shows it could be vastly more expensive than initially envisaged to provide every new parent in Scotland with one of these boxes.
‘It makes a lot more sense to focus resources on providing new parents with practical information and ongoing support with their child’s upbringing.’
The SNP’s commitment to giving every new mother a ‘baby box’ filled with items including blankets, mittens, bodysuits and towels was one of the flagship policies in the party’s manifesto for last year’s Scottish parliament elections.
It said that the boxes would cost about £100 each, and estimated the scheme would cost around £7million a year. But figures obtained by the Mail have revealed the contract for the supply of 200 boxes in the pilot scheme has cost £100,000 – an average of £500 per box.
The Scottish Government said it has not yet confirmed the contract for the roll-out of the scheme.
However, with more than 55,000 babies born every year, the cost could soar to up to £27.5million.