(Title Image: Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell via Youtube)
- Majority of MSs vote in favour of a backbench motion supporting a trial of a universal basic income in Wales (UBI).
- UBI is an obligation-free payment from the state.
- Concerns over the affordability, complexities of design and UBI being a disincentive to work.
The Motion
The Senedd:
- Notes the damage poverty does to life chances and that work is no longer a guaranteed route out of poverty.
- Also notes that the Covid-19 pandemic has forced more people into poverty with increasing numbers of residents having to turn to charitable support like food banks and that even before the pandemic, UK growth was poor and we face the growing challenge of automation, placing increasing numbers of jobs at risk.
- Notes that a universal basic income (UBI) gives people more control over their lives, would alleviate poverty, have a positive effect on mental health, would create jobs, encourage people to access training opportunities and gives people space to become more involved in their community.
- Calls on the Welsh Government to establish a UBI trial in Wales and to lobby the UK Government for funding to establish a Wales-wide UBI.
Providing security for people to live up to their potential
Jack Sargeant MS (Lab, Alyn & Deeside) listed several big changes to our way of life which would make UBI desirable if not essential. These include automation (which could result in mass job losses), in-work poverty and climate change.
A trial would help determine if UBI is practical. Any trial would likely be restricted to certain groups, with a suggestion of care leavers or Covid-19 redundancies. A trial in Canada showed that young people were more likely to stay in work or training, which is the opposite effect of universal credit which sometimes “punishes work”.
Helen Mary Jones MS (Plaid, Mid & West Wales) thought a UBI would support families to spend more time with their children and deal with a situation where there’s not enough work to go around – however, a trial would be less likely to take place without devolution of welfare. Adam Price MS (Plaid, Carms. E. & Dinefwr) added that UBI could boost creativity, enterprise and end a reliance on – direct quote – “bullshit jobs”.
Other members though there were clear challenges in terms of designing the system, setting the right level of income as well as providing additional top-ups where required.
This went further into outright opposition too.
Shadow Communities Minister, Mark Isherwood MS (Con, North Wales), quoted the Bevan Foundation who said that while a UBI would reach more people and reduce welfare stigma, it may also fail to properly support those with heightened needs. There was also a basic question of affordability and many nations – like Finland – who’ve held trials have abandoned the idea.
Others questioned whether it provided enough motivation to work.
Welsh Government open to a trial, but….
The Welsh Government took a sceptical, if not entirely dismissive, view. Finance Minister & Trefnydd, Rebecca Evans (Lab, Gower) criticised the complexities of the present benefits system, but a UBI presented some serious practical problems of its own:
“…..if a full UBI were paid in Wales to all working-age adults and set at the level of the living wage, the cost would be in around £35 billion a year….And again, just for illustration, these figures are around twice the size of the Welsh Government’s budget and, as a further comparison, income tax in Wales raises in total just over £5 billion. Of course, the costs could be much reduced if UBI was paid at a lower rate, but this would then reduce its attraction.”
– Finance Minister & Trefnydd, Rebecca Evans
The Welsh Government were open to a trial which was designed at least in part from Wales, but it couldn’t happen without UK Government cooperation.
Vote
Before anyone gets too excited, this was a backbench motion which isn’t binding on the government and is, in effect, nothing more than a statement of opinion.
For clarification – Labour Cabinet members abstained, David Rowlands MS (BXP, South Wales East) voted in favour.
