Gwynedd Council have expressed interest in working on a Universal Basic Income (UBI) pilot scheme with the Welsh Government.
Under a UBI system, every citizen, regardless of their means, receives regular sums of money for life to cover the basic cost of living. Its proponents argue that it can alleviate poverty and give people time to retrain and adapt to changing workplaces, be more creative and become more active and engaged.
Elin Walker Jones, the Glyder councillor who presented the motion on UBI has said that Gwynedd is the “ideal” area to trial UBI, with a “large rural population” but also “urban areas with urban issues in places like Bangor.”
Gwynedd cabinet member Catrin Elen Wager, who represents the Menai ward in Upper Bangor has called the trial an “opportunity”, saying: “Gwynedd is supportive because of the makeup of our population.
“In 2018 our average annual income was £662 lower than Wales’ average, while 21 per cent of people live in fuel poverty.
“We have a situation of haves and have nots with people working in seasonal jobs, working on a minimum wage and they cannot support their families.
“We also believe we have an opportunity to look at this in terms of things like the impact on the Welsh language, with income the driving factor of people leaving Welsh speaking rural communities to find work.”
First Minister Mark Drakeford said recently: “A basic income pilot is one of the specific responsibilities of our new social justice minister (Jane Hutt). It will have to be carefully designed, it will draw on the experience of attempted pilots in Scotland, but I have a very longstanding interest in basic income. I hope we will be able to mount an experiment here that will test whether the claims that are made for a basic income approach are actually delivered.”
While the Welsh government are supportive of the idea UBI, to introduce this in Wales would require an active commitment from the UK government as the welfare system is not devolved.
