14 hours ago
Scotland can 'go beyond mitigating Westminster' with minimum income guarantee
A group of charities, campaigners and academics commissioned by ministers back in 2021 has now set out a detailed 'road map' to putting a minimum income guarantee in place in Scotland, saying it will be a 'fundamental change to the social contract'.
The group say there should be a pilot of the policy following next year's Holyrood election.
A minimum income guarantee would establish an income level below which nobody is allowed to fall, through reform to social security, work, and services.
The group say the Scottish Child Payment should be doubled to £55 per week by 2031 and sanctions in the welfare system should be effectively ended as part of a package of recommendations.
READ MORE: UK 'feeding Scotland poison pills', John Swinney says
Experts say an interim minimum income payment could be established by 2036, in line with the relative poverty level.
Russell Gunson, of the Robertson Trust, led on the report and said while Scotland had taken steps to set itself apart from the UK on social security and work, a commitment to a minimum income guarantee would show it has ambitions to go beyond mitigating Westminster policies
However, he emphasised that the UK and Scottish Governments will either need to find ways to work together to ensure a minimum income guarantee can be delivered or Scotland would need to be handed more powers by Westminster.
'Across work, social security, services and costs, you can see across the UK and in Scotland, places where the current social contract is failing,' he told The National.
'The status quo isn't working, it's delivering deeper poverty and greater inequality and what we have set out is a change, a big idea that can change from the status quo into something very different in Scotland, and build that guarantee so that everyone has that sense of security to meet their full potential.'
Gunson (below) went on: 'We've taken steps in Scotland that are different to the rest of the UK and in many ways that's been for the better.
(Image: The Robertson Trust) 'The Scottish Child Payment and getting rid of the two-child limit by next year, these are all great steps and they are in the direction we want to go, but the report is pushing us further.
'It's a mindset shift. This is not about mitigating a big, bad Westminster government, this is about building something new in Scotland that works for Scotland.'
The report recommends doubling the Scottish Child Payment, getting rid of the five-week wait for Universal Credit and scrapping the two-child limit – which Scotland has committed to do next year – as ways in which the Scottish Government can set itself up now for introducing a minimum income guarantee.
But beyond this, the report recommends a 'new cooperation commission between the UK and Scottish governments' is set up, with flexibilities or additional powers to deliver a minimum income guarantee in Scotland.
Gunson said: 'Beyond those first steps that are doable within existing powers, to really get to the full minimum income guarantee we would need to see either flexibility and cooperation between the two governments or further powers for Scotland to be able to really push on without so much of that flexibility and cooperation.'
Asked if he felt the relationship between the governments needed to improve to make way for such a policy, he said: 'I think you would need to see cooperation between both governments. We do see that on some things, like on the two-child limit, but you also see the blindspots where that cooperation doesn't seem to be as strong, including on the winter fuel allowance.'
Gunson said a minimum income guarantee would be 'transformative' and could 'future-proof' Scotland.
He added he hoped to see Scotland be able to move away from the UK's Universal Credit system in the future which he believes has 'destitution built into it'.
READ MORE: Misogynistic attacks on Nicola Sturgeon lead to real threats, warns Kate Forbes
The report says increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £55 per week, combined with ending the two-child limit, would reduce child poverty by six percentage points alone, taking Scotland around half of the way to its national targets on child poverty for 2030.
This could be funded through anticipated increases in Scotland's block grant, and if additional revenue is required beyond this, the expert group believes council tax should be reformed to create a more progressive local tax that can fairly close the gap between the money raised by council tax in Scotland and the equivalent higher levels of revenue in England.
Gunson said: 'A minimum income guarantee could be transformative, putting in place a universal guarantee that's there for everyone in Scotland.
'Given the levels of poverty and inequality we see, we must act urgently.'
