Minimum Income Guarantee: Experts by Experience Panel report

Membership of the panel

At the end of the final panel meeting, members were asked to reflect individually on the impact being part of the panel had had on their life.

A few talked about the positive personal impact it had on them as individuals, mentioning things like bringing purpose and meaning, helping develop collaborative and active listening skills. Many mentioned learning about other people's lives and struggles, and getting insight into how others think. Others talked about being part of something important and allowing them to contribute and have their say.

Members were also asked if they had any other comments on the Experts by Experience panel as a whole.

Some reflected on the overall experience saying they had enjoyed it, and that they had met a diverse group of people. One felt that it was worthwhile although there had been parts of the discussion they found "excruciating (regarding degrees of wokeness and virtue-signalling)".

Although some reflected positively on the diversity of the group, one felt the group could at times be "an echo chamber" and was worried about what the general public might think of the outputs. While another reflected that they felt the panel had done a good job putting forward the case for a Minimum Income Guarantee. One felt that although the group was diverse, in their opinion members may not have all actively participated or expressed their views.

Some members commented on the process, with a couple saying they felt they could have done with more time, and one saying at times they were presented with too much information from different sources.

Two members reflected on the Minimum Income Guarantee policy itself. One, although happy to have taken part said they though "how can we come to an agreement on a system which includes everyone without either prioritising or leaving groups out?", and another said that although they had found it interesting, they felt "that what we want is virtually impossible".

Appendix 3: Background on a Minimum Income Guarantee

A Minimum Income Guarantee is an assurance that no one will fall below a set income level that would allow them to live a dignified life. It can be met through a combination of employment, tax relief, social security, services and regulation of essential costs. The aim is to provide everyone in Scotland with a minimum acceptable standard of living ensuring enough money for housing, food and essentials to allow then to live a decent, dignified healthy and financially secure life. It has the potential to build significantly greater levels of financial security in Scotland and contribute to a safety net that would protect against periods of uncertainty, address widening inequity and maximise the potential of the entire population long-term.

A Minimum Income Guarantee would see action on social security, work and the costs of essentials to deliver an income floor beneath which no one in Scotland would be allowed to fall. The income floor, or Minimum Income Guarantee level, would be set to ensure a dignified quality of life and would vary by household type and need. For most households, the Minimum Income Guarantee level will be achieved through paid work therefore reform is required to increase minimum levels of pay and achieve equal pay for women and marginalised groups; address the undervaluation of low and unpaid work; reduce barriers and participation gaps; broaden pay rates; guarantee hours worked and career progression; and to ensure work is equitable, flexible and accessible to all.

Reducing the costs of essentials such as housing, energy, food, travel, digital and childcare if applicable will have the effect of reducing the level of income needed to reach a dignified quality of life; in turn this would reduce the Minimum Income Guarantee level. However, services can also help to increase household earnings by addressing barriers to the labour market and enabling individuals to increase hours in paid work and take on new roles. Alongside fair work and adequate social security, services and reducing the cost of essentials will ensure a Minimum Income Guarantee is transformation and has a lasting impact on financial insecurity and poverty.

In its full form, a Minimum Income Guarantee would include a payment that would top-up the income of households whose income from paid work and other sources falls below the Minimum Income Guarantee level. The Minimum Income Guarantee payment would be designed to replace many of the existing UK-wide income-assessed social security payments in Scotland longer-term, such as Universal Credit. In doing so it will be desirable to retain a diversity of payments so that people and families do not see a reliance on one single payment at one single point.

The Expert Group are responsible for driving progress and will publish a full report in 2024 that will make recommendations to the Scottish Government, considering the costs, legislative powers, delivery mechanisms needed to implement a Minimum Income Guarantee in Scotland.