Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme

The Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme funds nurseries and childminders to provide a daily serving of milk and a snack for children who attend for at least 2 hours a day.

It aims to ensure children have daily servings of healthy food and drink items from an early age to help their growth and development.

The daily serving includes: 

• plain fresh cow's milk or a non-dairy alternative, or infant formula for children under 12 months old
• a healthy snack, either fruit or vegetables.

Any nursery or childminder in Renfrewshire can register for the scheme if you:

• are registered with the Care Inspectorate
• provide care to pre-school children for 2 hours or more a day. 

Under the scheme, children will get milk, or a non-dairy alternative, and a healthy snack serving once a day if they attend at least 2 hours of nursery or childcare.

If a child goes to more than 1 nursery or childminder during the day, they should still receive only 1 serving a day. 

If a child gets the milk and snack serving at another nursery or childminder before coming to your setting, you do not need to provide it again.

You should agree with the child's parents and carers when the milk and snack is provided, in line with any other arrangements for meals at your setting.

You should keep a record if a parent or carer chooses to decline all or part of the milk and snack provision for their child.

From 1 April 2022, a national combined rate of 58.2p for milk, non-dairy alternatives, and a healthy snack was introduced for every eligible child.

There is no charge for parents or carers of children who get the daily milk and snack provision. 

What you cannot use the scheme for

This scheme is separate from any other meal or snack arrangements you provide at your setting. 

You cannot use these payments for other types of food, drinks, meals, or products that are not approved for the scheme.

See the products that must be provided under the scheme (Scottish Government website).

You'll need to give us an estimate of the number of milk and snack servings you expect to provide from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2027, so we can calculate payments to childcare settings.

We recommend you base this on your existing catering estimates and the number of children you expect attend your setting each day. 

For example, if you’re a nursery with 80 places, you could apply for between 80 to 120 servings per day.

In your application, you'll need to provide:

• the registered name, address and postcode of your nursery or childminding business
• your contact details
• which type of childcare provision you provide (either day care or childminding)
• the address where the nursery or childminder is
• the bank name, account number, and sort code of the nursery or childminder
• if you keep an attendance record
• how many children are enrolled at your nursery or childminding setting
• how many sessions you provide a week
• how many children you expect to care for at a session
• how many milk and snack servings a month you expect to provide
• a copy of your childcare provider's certificate of registration - you can upload this as a photo (JPEG) or a scanned document (PDF).

Register for the Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme online

This year's scheme runs from 1 August 2026 until 31 July 2027.

We'll let you know if we have confirmed your registration. 

We'll tell you by email when your payments will start. 

When you'll get paid

This year's scheme runs from 1 August 2026 until 31 July 2027.

If your registration is confirmed, you’ll get 3 payments during the year to purchase the products that must be provided under the scheme (Scottish Government website).

The 3 payment periods cover:

• 1 August 2026 to 30 November 2026
• 1 December 2026 to 31 March 2027
• 1 April 2027 to 31 July 2027.

If you register before 20 July 2026, you'll get your first payment on or around 1 August 2026.

If you register after 20 July 2026, you'll be paid within 4 weeks of the date you registered. 

You will not get backdated payments if you register after 20 July 2026.

We'll make the second payment on or around 1 December 2026.

We'll make the third payment during the week commencing 6 April 2027.

More information 

You can find out more about the Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme (Scottish Government website).