FOI/202500491624 · FOI · unclear
Baby Box information: FOI release
Information requested
1. The number of Baby Boxes handed out by the Scottish Government for each financial year since it was launched.
2. The cost to the Scottish Government for the Baby Box, broken down by financial year.
3. Any difference in cost versus budget (i.e. £1million over/underspend) for each financial year in relation to the Baby Box.
4. The amount of money spent by calendar year on promotional or marketing activities relating to the Baby Box.
Response
1. The number of Baby Boxes handed out by the Scottish Government for each financial year since it was launched.
Scottish Government only holds information on the number of Baby Boxes distributed each calendar year. Below are the details of Baby Boxes distributed since the policy began on 15 August 2017:
Time period Baby Boxes distributed within period Quarter 3 2017 6,171 Quarter 4 2017 11,730 2018 47,702 2019 46,266 2020 45,877 2021 43,079 2022 41,207 2023 41,117 2024 40,712
2. The cost to the Scottish Government for the Baby Box, broken down by financial year.
Since the Baby Box programme began the costs in each financial year have been:
Financial Year Baby Box Programme Costs 2016/17 £186,493.27 2017/18 £7,527,764.49 2018/19 £8,704,115.39 2019/20 £8,500,000.00 2020/21 £8,300,000.00 2021/22 £7,900,000.00 2022/23 £6,900,000,00 2023/24 £7,977,615.71 2024/25 £6,027,000.00
3. Any difference in cost versus budget (i.e. £1million over/underspend) for each financial year in relation to the Baby Box.
Since the start of Baby Box Programme in August 2017 the Scottish Government recorded an underspend every year against the allocated budget, which is detailed below:
Financial Year Budget Baby Box Programme Cost Underspend 2017/18 £8,800,000 £7,527,764.49 £1,272,235.51 2018/19 £8,800,000 £8,704,115.39 £95,884.61 2019/20 £8,800,000 £8,500,000 £300,000 2020/21 £8,800,000 £8,300,000 £500,000 2021/22 £9,040,000 £7,900,000 £1,140,000 2022/23 £9,040,000 £6,900,000 £2,140,000 2023/24 £9,040,000 £7,977,615.71 £1,062,384.29 2024/25 £9,040,000 £6,027,000 £3,013,000
4. The amount of money spent by calendar year on promotional or marketing activities relating to the Baby Box.
The Scottish Government has spent no money on promotional or marketing activities relating to the Baby Box since the Baby Box programme began on 15 August 2017.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
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