has government scrapped sure start maternity grant from today?

[haribomum]

does anyone know?

cat64 i do agree with you i am not buying anything new for dc4 apart from a sling and i am entitled to claim both grants! i do think it is wrong that people on low incomes get so much money for having a baby. but i can also see how it would be hard to get everything a baby needs without a bit of help, if u dont already have everything.

The only thing we bought new for DS1 was a car-seat. Other things we were given, lent or we bought secondhand. Then my SIL had it all, then we had it all back for DS2. I resent people getting these grants which we pay for, so they can get all new stuff while we make do.

hi guys i have the same dillema i am now carrying my second child with a 6 year gap from my first so obviously have no old baby things left like cots ect i have just been on the bbc site and it states.....Mr Osborne said he would abolish the "health in pregnancy" grant from April 2011, and restrict the Sure Start maternity grant to the first child only.
it is not very clear so if anybody has anymore light on this weather the sure start maternity grant is now or april 2011 i would much apreciate it many thanks stevey

mumtob both grants are staying the same untill april, so we just qualify

DanJARmouse - it means that the annual increases in all benefits (except pensions) will be smaller because they will be pegged to the Consumer Price Index and not the Retail Price Index.

We are on a low income (which is why we qualified) but I really struggled to spend the money.

I wouldnt dream of spending a lot on a cot etc. I buy it all 2nd hand or in the sale. The money is lovely but it is an awful lot when put together with the HIP grant.

No wonder some childless people think its mad!

690 quid just for getting pregnant is crazy.

I think it is important to have some sort of emergency grant for those in need. I have never understood the 190 quid for every pregnant woman though. It will not make those who dont, eat well and those that eat well already dont need the money to make them!

I think the sure start grant is a good idea....some people struggle with their 1st child as they are new to it....this doesnt mean people shouldnt have children....the price of baby things now is riddiculous!! I agree though that it should be 1st child only.....how much money does the government waste on these things? If its limited to 1st child only imagine how much they would save!! And maybe yes you might have a big age gap with children and maybe you didnt keep things but there are second hand things if you need and many people give things when you have kids....as long as the things are safe....why not check out ebay and freecycle?!

I am for the sure start grant for 1st child only and will never agree that parents who need the money shouldnt have children.

I agree with you in many ways ivestillgotit. My husband and I are planning to have a family and the grant would help us with our first child...its not that we live in poverty or anything but we have been looking at what it would cost and its so much and I think that at least for first child the grant would be a welcome relief. I have seen many women who breed like rabbits because they know they can claim benefit after benefit after benefit...I have a friend who has never worked a day in her life she had a child while she was quite young and then stayed at home til the child was 4 then she had another child and says she doesnt want to work....andother friends sister was with a guy 2 weeks and fell PG saying she just wants to have kids and stay at home!!! I found this infuriating as I know women who have children and go back to work even if its only part time!!! Its the people who abuse things that ruin it for everyone else.

So I say the grant should be for 1st child only!! If you have more but got rid of all from 1st then get it cheap as then you know what to expect and if you have cash left over from 1st child grant put it aside for them for when they need something else! Its like child benefit & tax credits I see many spend on things for them or home etc but that is to help with cost of raising child so use it for that and whats left keep it you never know when child may need something new so try to have spare cash....SAVE!!

I telephoned the helpline yesterday, as I had only just put in my application for Sure Start Maternity Grant when the govt. changed the guidelines on Tuesday. I was basically told that the grant has not been scrapped, but has been limited to your first child so we are not eligible, as I am pregnant with my second child. Personally I think this stinks, as I did not claim the grant with my first child. Myself and my partner were both working full time when I was expecting my first, so we paid for everything ourselves. Now, with a largeish age gap, and also expecting a boy this time when we previously had a girl, I only work part time and we are struggling hugely what with the increases in the general cost of living since my first pregnancy. The grant would be a huge help to us this time, but we are not entitled as it is not my first child. I agree that perhaps you should only be able to claim once, but I think they have not taken into consideration the fact that people's financial circumstances can change considerably over a number of years, and this now leaves us in a rather dire financial position.

can someone thats four months preg get sure start for 2nd child? many thanks x

AMYBEX I think the helpline is wrong. If you get a disallowance make sure you appeal it immediately!

This is what the actual budget doc says

1.105 From April 2011 the Government will restrict eligibility to the
Sure Start Maternity Grant to the first child only and abolish the
Health in Pregnancy Grant from January 2011. Mothers that are already
pregnant should not be affected.

amybex thanks for your comment really helful as most info i read just says sure start will be restricted to first child but doesnt actually say when, only that the hip is until april 11. where did you manage to find this?

Michellenicemex I think you are referring to me - I found it in the full budget document on BBC site.

I also have heard rumblings that there may be some exclusions about the second child thing but havent seen the document myself so cant advise any more than that.

yeh sorry i was ok thanks x

people seem to forget that buggies and things break after a while, nothing lasts forever, and u will need to buy some more clothes every baby as some go manky from baby puke and overwashing!! so yes you do need the money and if theres something we are entitled to then why not? and the other thing is that someone said if you cant afford them then why have babies but i fell pregnant and then i lost my job(thru no fault of my own) and its really hard to get another job at the mo the way it is. it doesnt always work out the way you planned it. so this time i could really do with the money. i have a little boy whos 3 now so if its a girl im gonna have to go out and buy pink stuff. so i dont think it should be limited to 1st child or maybe they should look at peoples circumstances in order to give them it or for people who cant work.

I forgot to apply for my surestart grant and missed it by 5 days! So I think I should get one for DC 2 whenever that may be...humph.

Wonder how people ever afforded to have babies at all before the sure start grant?

People who were skint have always borrowed, used second hand, ebay, freecycle. A lot of baby kit is redundant anyway.

Don't see why it should be any different.

i forgot to mention i would have used second hand clothes with my first but nobody had any to lend and even ebay you need money to buy things. i didnt recieve the grant for my first as i was still working at the time and didnt really need it and forgot to say all them people that say we use thier taxes, my partner works and pays his. ive lost my job and need the money as simple as that my benefits goes towards shopping each week with nothing left over. all my partners wages goes on rent and electric and stuff so its not like we are swanning around and buying everything we can. the money would be a real help.

We got SS grant based not on income but teh fact we ahd disabled kids and it paid for safety equipment that made it easier to keep abby and boys separate. It's a shame imo that extra help has been lost. But probably necessary, sadly.

And LOL at 'before surestart'- it wasn't that long ago and was both my older two! MIL gave us a pram, we bought clothes in bits and we did up a FIL had kept for thirty years and both DH adn BIL had used- wouldn;t even want to know the safety scores on that
yes we were fine but teh SS grant helped with the bists we'd no way have had around the house- why would we? High sided cots and alarm systems?

i like angie31124 comments they seem to forget that people may still fall pregnant whilst using contraception and not feel it morally right to abort a child just because they are not finacially secure though no fault of ther own such as job loss.individuall cases should be assesd and mothers could not possibly be expected to put a little boy in dresses from his younger sister and have no pram due to need for a double even with great care prams and pushchairs are designed to wear through and matresses and bedding when reused even by a sibling increases health risk. i can only be greatful i am in the margin xxx

im expecting my second child in april 2011 will i still be able to apply for sure start grant??? with my first child i lent the things i needed from my partners sister but now she recently had a new baby an dont get along with his family an only need few things i dont like buyin expensive things tht are goin to break in time an really only need pram moses basket

could anyone help with some info as im already saving up for my new baby but i no i wont be able to save up enough for the pram an moses basket before april with xmas also

Its likley to be 5th April the grant will go from for subsequent children so probably not.

TBH a basic pram and moses basket are quite cheap off ebay and freecycle will probably have plenty. If you're struggling to buy two basics then perhaps you need to look at other areas or increase hours at work etc.

There is a lot of scaremongering going on and mixed messages out there. For an analysis of what the Spending Review really means for families, please take a look at our site.

I don't think it's right that the grant should only be able to be claimed for the first child, surely instead that it can only be claimed once. With my first daughter in 2006 I didn't get the grant through no fault of my own, tax credits took too long to process my application, taking me out of the claim period by a matter of days. I wasn't receiving income support as I was entitled to statutory maternity pay and still living at home with my mum at the time. Don't get me wrong I don't think that being pregnant and a single parent at 18 is advisable and certainly not something I planned, but these things do happen. Luckily my family bought everything my daughter needed, but this time round with 5 more grandchildren (not from me!) I am not going to be so lucky! I have given away everything from my first pregnancy and the stuff I do have is all girls which isnt going to be much good for my son, and being 29 weeks on the 1st of April I will just miss the cut off for the grant. My partner works but with both having children from previous relationships (both girls), plus the cost of living increases, there is no way we will be able to afford all the things for the baby! This along with having to make the desicion to either go back to university next september rather than the following year so as to avoid the ridiculous increase in student loans it just seems like low income families are being given less money and more debt, and less ways to get out of it. Also peoples circumstances change, so whereas someone may have been able to afford to buy for say their first child (2 incomes, no childcare costs etc) with a second child one parent is usually not working or part time, meaning a lower income and a far greater need for the money. I feel like this is just yet another change that the government hasn't quite thought through!

Health in pregnancy grant abolished from 1st January 2011. You get the grant if you are 25 weeks before that date, if not you no longer qualify. Direct.gov.uk website has info about it.