Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scottish Government start work on basic income guarantee in bid to eradicate poverty

Scottish basic income
It's hoped the plan will help to tackle poverty in Scotland

Work by the Scottish Government to establish a universal basic income will get underway on Tuesday in a bid to ‘eradicate poverty’.

Scots have been asked for their views on the plan, which would see everyone guaranteed a minimum basic income regardless of their employment.

The government’s social justice secretary, Shona Robison, who represents Dundee City East, will co-chair the first meeting to drive forward the plan.

Ms Robison has also launched a consultation to gather views on establishing and delivering a Minimum Income Guarantee in Scotland.

Shona Robison will chair a meeting on a Scottish basic income
Dundee MSP Shona Robison will lead the Scottish Government’s efforts

The government said such a move would provide an assurance everyone in Scotland would have enough money to live a “dignified, healthy and financially secure life”.

But they stressed it was not a mechanism to allow employers to keep wages low, with the government encouraging secure, well paid employment.

Scottish Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy and Conservative MSP Miles Briggs will join the committee.

Scottish basic income could be ‘revolutionary’ in fight against poverty

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Shona Robison said: “We are committed to progressing the delivery of a Minimum Income Guarantee, which could be revolutionary in our fight against poverty.

“It is a clear demonstration of our ambition and aspiration for Scotland.

“The policy is innovative, bold and radical. It reflects our clear desire to do everything with our limited powers to deliver the change needed, using every lever at our disposal.

It is a clear demonstration of our ambition and aspiration for Scotland

“Eradicating child poverty and building a fairer, more equal country must be a national mission, not just for the government, but our parliament and broader society.”

She added: “We recognise this is a cross-government responsibility and we are focused on working together to push forward poverty reduction in Scotland.

The policy would guarantee everyone a basic yearly income

“We must look at ways of maximising household incomes from work and social security, as well as reducing costs on essentials including services such as childcare.

“Introducing a Minimum Income Guarantee will not be easy and it will not happen overnight, but there is a willingness to deliver on our ambition.”

The steering group will be co-chaired by Russell Gunson, director of the Institute for Public Policy Research in Scotland.

Mr Gunson said the policy would set a minimum income floor beyond which no one would fall.

‘Big ideas’ needed to build a fairer Scotland

He added: “To build a fairer and stronger Scotland following Covid-19 we will need to think big ideas in Scotland and think just as big on how to implement them.

“I’m delighted to be co-chair and look forward to working hard together to see tangible progress towards delivering a Minimum Income Guarantee for Scotland over the coming years.”