Basic Income Network Scotland: Review of Citizens’ Basic Income Feasibility Study

Interest in universal basic income has mushroomed in recent years in response to increasing employment insecurity and in-work poverty, with pilots and trials conducted or planned in several locations, and support from a growing number of politicians. The Scottish Government recently funded a two-year feasibility study to examine the options for piloting a basic income in Scotland. The Citizens’ Basic Income Feasibility Study Steering Group completed their work in June 2020, and submitted reports on possible basic income pilots in Scotland and how these might be evaluated, along with complementary studies modelling the possible economic impacts of a basic income on Scotland and potential interactions between a CBI pilot and the current social security arrangements. The Steering Group recommended that a Scottish pilot should go ahead, although this is not currently possible under the terms of the devolution settlement. Basic Income Network Scotland strongly welcomed this collection of studies as very significant contributions to the development and progression of Basic Income here and abroad. We highly commend their robust and rigorous work and recognise how much these colleagues and their respective institutions have progressed and supported the many debates and analyses across this country, the rest of the UK and indeed globally since publication. This BINS paper offers a commentary on elements of these publications recording some thoughts and challenges to us all in how a basic income scheme might be introduced, assessed and impact on the economy and society. We hope this is appreciated in the spirit in which it is written as progressing the analytical framework and understanding of this potential instrument for significant change. We wish to thank the three contributors to this paper: Dr Marcia Gibson, Professor Mike Danson and Annie Miller. We welcome all feedback, comments and criticisms