Politics
Universal Income plans depend on Westminster
MARK DRAKEFORD’s announcement that the Welsh Government plans to trial Universal Basic Income in a few locations in Wales captured headlines in online media.
The First Minister was variously said to have ‘hinted’ at a trial or announced a trial would take place.
However, nobody should have been surprised by the First Minister’s announcement.
Not only was the policy contained in Labour’s Manifesto for May 6’s election – a bit more than ’a hint’ – but also the principle of holding a trial in Wales was enthusiastically passed by the last Welsh Parliament in September last year. It was a policy in Plaid Cymru’s election manifesto and Labour’s; so, whether Labour went it alone in Government or was in partnership with Plaid Cymru, a trial was on the cards.
WG KNOWS WESTMINSTER HAS THE FINAL WORD
However, whether the Welsh Government can carry out a trial is beyond its immediate control.
Headlines that said the Welsh Government WILL carry out even limited Universal Basic Income trials are also jumping the gun.
When the Senedd debated a motion brought forward by Jack Sargeant MS on September 30, 2020, here is what the Finance Minister Rebecca Evans had to say about it: “The Welsh Government would be open to such a trial taking place in Wales, but we have to be realistic that such a trial would not be possible without the active cooperation of the UK Government, and this is because of the interaction of universal basic income with the tax and benefit system.
“If such a trial were offered, we would also require that conditions were met to ensure that the Welsh Government and this Senedd were able to play a significant role in the design, governance and accountability of any scheme.
“Were the Welsh Government to make payments to individuals without the cooperation of the UK Government, this could simply result in them being ineligible for existing benefits or paying more in tax.
“Aside from the fact that this would not then be a proper test of the effect of an unconditional payment, it would result in the transfer of resources from the Welsh Government to the UK Government.
“And, sadly, our recent experience of the UK Government’s approach to the taxation of our payments to social care workers doesn’t suggest that we should expect their active cooperation.”
In short, the Welsh Government needs Westminster’s ‘active cooperation’ to make a trial possible.
Without Westminster’s cooperation, those who get the Universal Basic Income could (are almost certain to) lose all of their entitlements to other benefits, tax credits, and other means-tested benefits. They could also have to pay tax on it.
WHAT IS UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME?
Universal Basic Income is not a new idea. Its long history stretches back to antiquity and has been a feature of both romantic and progressive political theory for centuries.
At its simplest, Universal Basic Income does away with a raft of welfare benefits. It substitutes them with a single payment of a fixed amount.
Schemes that guarantee a basic income, short of enough to live on, exist in a few US states and a handful of national economies. However, those are more of an income floor for those who are otherwise dependent on welfare benefits. They are not an actual Universal Basic Income.
A national trial in Finland ended after two years with no definitive finding of better outcomes for those who received UBI over those who did not.
The Covid pandemic increased interest in the idea of UBI in continental Europe. At the same time, the US used a series of relatively modest income replacement initiatives to stop people’s descent into poverty (or into deeper poverty).
The UK’s furlough scheme was – essentially – a basic income guarantee but not genuinely universal in nature.
A major multi-national academic study published in 2017 found that UBI probably improved some health outcomes and increased the likelihood of children attending school.
However, the same report also concluded the evidence for positive outcomes from UBI-type schemes was ‘very uncertain’.
THE COST TO WALES
The main deterrent to a truly Universal Basic Income is cost.
• If a full universal basic income were paid in Wales to all working-age adults and set at the level of the official living wage, the cost would be around £35 billion a year.
• If set at the level of the real living wage, the cost would be around £40 billion.
• For illustration, those figures are around twice the size of the Welsh Government’s budget. As a further comparison, income tax in Wales raises in total just over £5 billion.
• Of course, the costs could be much reduced if universal basic income were paid at a lower rate. However, payment at a lower rate would reduce its attractiveness.
Those last four points are not our own words. They are the Welsh Government’s position as set out in 2020 by its own Finance Minister.
Nothing has changed those figures since September 30, 2020.
They demonstrate the prohibitive and unsupportable cost of UBI to Wales without massive and systemic change across the whole UK.
SCOTCH MIST
As an illustrative example of the timescales and complexity of introducing even a pilot scheme, we only need to look at Scotland.
In September 2017, the Scottish Government announced it would support local authority areas to explore a Citizen’s Basic Income Scheme by establishing a fund to help regions to develop their proposals further and establish appropriate testing.
The funding offered was £250,000 over the two financial years 2018/19 and 2019/20.
Four local authority areas: Fife Council, City of Edinburgh Council, Glasgow City Council and North Ayrshire Council, worked together to research and explore the feasibility of local pilots of Basic Income in Scotland.
Notlaunch a basic income. Explore its feasibility.
Over three and a half years since the Scottish Government’s announcement, there is still no UBI trial in Scotland.
Putting such a scheme in place depends, yet again, on Westminster’s cooperation.
A report on the progress of the feasibility study notes’ any pilot [must] have the necessary support to influence the future of national policy and the role of Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), HM Treasury and the NHS will be vital in the design and implementation of a Basic Income pilot.’
Three years to design and complete a feasibility study into a limited trial in four local authority areas in Scotland combined with the need to wait for Westminster approval does not suggest a quick fix.
And if it’s not a rapid process in Scotland, it will scarcely be quicker in Wales.
Education
Disabled children ‘denied rights to education’
DISABLED children and young people in Wales are being fundamentally let down and denied their right to education, Senedd Members warned.
Buffy Williams, who chairs the children’s committee, led a debate after an inquiry found many disabled children do not have equal access to education and childcare.
The Labour politician raised concerns about the Welsh Government rejecting six of the 32 recommendations emerging from the committee’s 239-page report.
She welcomed recognition that more must be done to uphold children’s rights to education.
But, addressing Welsh ministers, Ms Williams warned: “We do not feel that your response commits to a step change in the pace and scale of the action required to do so.
“Our committee, like the online advisory group, worries that maybe you are not giving these issues the priority they deserve.”
She told the Senedd that families’ distressing experiences left an imprint, with the committee hearing some children are thinking about and attempting suicide due to a lack of support.
Ms Williams said parents, carers and young people on the advisory group believe ministers’ formal response to the report fails to recognise the seriousness of the issues families face.
She warned the Welsh Government appears to have “resigned” itself to a substantial shortfall in inclusive childcare for disabled and neurodivergent children.
Criticising ministers’ decision to rebuff calls for mandatory training on disability for all school staff, she stressed the importance of understanding and meeting children’s needs.
Ms Williams, who represents Rhondda, said the Welsh Government’s response appears to delegate responsibility for equity in childcare and education to councils.
She asked: “What more will it take for the Welsh Government to step in, to give local authorities the support they so clearly need?”
Gareth Davies said support for disabled children is patchy across Wales, with schools lacking funding, staff and expertise to deliver inclusive education.
Mr Davies, the Conservatives’ shadow mental health minister, warned that disabled children disproportionately experience bullying in school as he called for greater safeguards.
Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan described the committee’s inquiry as heartbreaking, with failings having a devastating impact on families.
She told the debating chamber or Siambr that children as young as five or six have been traumatised and failed by the education system.
Carolyn Thomas, a Labour backbencher who chairs the petitions committee, stated the Senedd has received five petitions on Wales’ additional learning needs (ALN) reforms.
“The sheer number of petitions and signatures highlights the strength of feeling,” she said.
South Wales East Laura Anne Jones warned ALN support is one of the most pressing issues facing families, with lower-level needs “falling under the radar”.
She said it is disgraceful that so many teachers and assistants still lack basic neurodiversity training, which leads to disabled children’s behaviour being wrongly labelled disruptive.
Calling for urgent action, the Conservative criticised ministers for failing to accept “crucial” recommendations, saying: “Inclusive education is not a luxury, it is a right.”
Hefin David, whose daughter is autistic, sought to place the debate in historical context as he drew on his own family’s experiences.
He said: “In the 1970s and ’80s, my daughter would have been in an institution for most of her early life, she would have spent the whole time there.”
The Caerphilly Senedd Member recognised that progress is sometimes not fast enough but he emphasised that young people are being treated better today than ever before.
Dr David, who is stepping down from the children’s committee, said: “To take too much of a downbeat note on these things is to devalue the experience of those who suffered.”
The Labour politician described the 32 recommendations as “too many”, warning this is problematic in terms of setting people up to fail with resources spread so thin.
Responding to the debate on November 12, Lynne Neagle apologised to families for their experiences which she said made for distressing and sobering reading.
Wales’ education secretary said: “I am truly sorry … and I say on behalf of the [Welsh] Government that it is not good enough.”
Ms Neagle, whose first job after university was working with parents of disabled children, recognised that families too often feel the need to fight for support.
“It affected me deeply,” she told the Senedd. “And I want to acknowledge that not enough has changed for enough families – we can and we must do better.”
She said: “Rights on their own are not enough, they must be translated into action…. I know too many children and families have been waiting too long for their rights to become action.
“Like them, I am impatient for change. As a government, we will not stop until we get it right for all children and young people in Wales.”
Charity
Kurtz goes Jurassic as Pantosaurus visits Senedd NSPCC Campaign
THIS WEEK, the NSPCC’s annual campaign to safeguard children from sexual abuse reached the steps of the Senedd.
Pantosaurus, the friendly mascot of the NSPCC’s PANTS campaign, appeared to raise awareness among Members of the Senedd and the wider public about the vital importance of child safety. The campaign encourages parents and carers to talk openly with young children about risks and protective measures.
The PANTS campaign is built around five key child protection messages:
- Privates are private.
- Always remember your body belongs to you.
- No means no.
- Talk about secrets that upset you.
- Speak up; someone can help.
After meeting Pantosaurus, Samuel Kurtz MS, Member of the Senedd for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, expressed his support for the campaign
He said: “I wholeheartedly support this important NSPCC initiative. Since its launch in 2013, it has empowered over six million families to discuss this sensitive subject.
“This issue affects communities across Wales, so promoting the five principles of PANTS is essential for everyone in Pembrokeshire and beyond.”
Farming
Welsh Government could overturn Ceredigion cattle breeder’s house plans
A CEREDIGION councillor-backed scheme by one of the top breeders of Limousin cattle in the UK to build a home near Lampeter could be overturned following a call for it to be decided by Welsh Government, planners heard.
At the October meeting of Ceredigion County Council’s development management committee, the application, by Mr and Mrs Dylan Davies for a four-bedroom rural enterprise workers’ dwelling at Blaenffynnon, Llanwnnen, Lampeter, where they run a calving and cattle rearing business, was backed despite an officer recommendation for refusal.
One of the issues in the report for members was the financial test of whether the scheme was affordable, based on an estimate the building would cost some £292,000 to construct; at a 25-year mortgage amounting to £20,400 a year.
The size of the proposed building – which the applicants say include a need to entertain and occasionally accommodate clients – was also given as a reason for failing the TAN6 policy test, being larger than affordable housing guidance, at 202 square metres rather than a maximum of 136.
Members have previously heard the applicant breeds high-value show cattle for embryo transplanting at the well-established business, with one bull alone selling for £32,000 last year.
It had previously been recommended for refusal at the September meeting, but was deferred for a ‘cooling-off’ period to seek further details along with potential changes to the size of the scheme.
At the October meeting, members backed approval despite officers saying the size proposed could actually include a two-person bungalow in addition to the normal maximal ‘affordable’ size.
At the start of the November meeting, members heard a request for the scheme to be ‘called-in’ for Welsh Government final decision had been made, meaning Ceredigion planners’ approval could potentially be overturned if the ‘call-in’ is agreed.
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