A STUDY into whether every citizen in Scotland should receive a basic income has recommended running a pilot scheme - but it would need support from the UK Government.

Glasgow City Council is one of four local authorities, alongside Edinburgh, Fife and North Ayrshire, which has worked with NHS Health Scotland and the Improvement Service over the past two years to explore the possibility of a citizens' basic income (CBI).

The steering group believes a three-year pilot would help to understand the impact a CBI could have on poverty, child poverty, unemployment, financial well-being and experience of the social security system.

Glasgow's City Treasurer, Councillor Ricky Bell, said: "We are keen to test its ability to address inequality and mitigate against poverty and deprivation.

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"It is imperative that we consider new policy options, better designed than the current system and more equipped to improve living standards and quality of life.

"The Covid-19 pandemic puts even more focus on the need for change and fuels the desire to find different and more effective responses to the many challenges we now face."

The recommended method would see two study areas where the whole community receives an income, one receiving a high payment, based on the Minimum Income Standard set by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and the other a low payment "more closely aligned with current benefit levels".

The draft final report will be debated by the four councils before being passed to the Scottish Government at the end of the month.

In a foreword to the report, Mr Bell said: "There needs to be a secure financial platform that allows space and time for people to build instead of the continuation of an inadequate model of social protection that gives little flexibility. 

"Going forward we must better value the contributions that people make and promote a fairer society and more sustainable existence. 

"It is important that all tiers of government embrace this opportunity and respond positively to the report’s recommendations."

Certain benefits - disability, work capability, housing and childcare - would need to be continued alongside the income to ensure the pilot does not "lead to direct financial detriment for participants", the report finds.

It is suggested the CBI payment should be included in the calculation of income tax.

However, the proposed pilot model "would require full collaboration" of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Neither the Scottish Government or the local authorities could introduce a CBI on their own. "Changes to legislation would be complex, time-consuming and possibly costly, and would therefore depend on significant political will and interest," the report adds.

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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon recently said her position on basic income had "gone from having a keen interest in exploring it to what I now describe as active support for it".

The preferred model for a CBI pilot in Scotland would be based on five principles: universal (paid to all); unconditional (no requirement to search for work); individual (not paid to households, like Universal Credit); periodic (paid at regular intervals); and made as a cash payment.

Costs for a pilot based on the proposed model are approximately £186m. The Scottish Government provided £250,000 to support the feasibility work.

Two pieces of research were commissioned by the steering group. The Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland looked at the social security implications of a CBI pilot and the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde, in partnership with the Institute for Public Policy Research and Manchester Metropolitan University, carried out economic modelling, which considered the implications of a national roll-out.


Under the proposed pilot, the weekly payments would be:

0 to 15 years (payment to main carer/parent) 

Low - £84.54 

High - £120.48 

16 to 19 years 

Low - £84.54 

High - £213.59

20 to 24 years

Low - £57.90 

High - £213.59

25 years to pension age 

Low - £73.10 

High - £213.59

Pension age 

Low - £168.60 

High - £195.90