Involving Londoners in a basic income pilot

The Spring Budget will not deliver a universal basic income to support those struggling with soaring living costs, says Zack Polanski AM, despite support for a pilot from 50 per cent of Londoners and the Mayor.[1][2]

Zack’s latest report ‘Involving Londoners in a Basic Income Pilot’, co-written with Cleo Goodman, Project Director and co-founder of Basic Income Conversation, makes the case for a basic income pilot in London which involves Londoners in its development and design.[3]

The report follows recent data showing that 90% of low-income households on Universal Credit are going without essentials.[4]

Green Party London Assembly Member Zack Polanski says:

“This Budget will be another makeshift solution from Government which will not provide the urgent safety net Londoners need at a time where most people on Universal Credit across the UK are going without basic essentials.

“The Mayor of London was amongst hundreds of politicians and campaigners uniting to urge the Government to launch pilots across the UK last year. He must bring Londoners into the conversation and keep pushing these ideas into the mainstream.

“A basic income should come from the grassroots, the ones calling for an alternative to the economic system which is severely letting them down. It cannot wait.”

Cleo Goodman, Project Director and co-founder of Basic Income Conversation says:

“This would be a big restructure of the UK economy that would ensure more people have the basics covered. Piloting a basic income sooner rather than later is so crucial, to prove its benefits, to build confidence in and support for the policy and shorten the timeline towards a basic income for everyone in the UK.

“This paper outlines and makes the case for the community consultation approach that is already driving forward the basic income movement across the country.

The Basic Income Conversation has worked with communities in Jarrow and Grange, East Finchley to develop micro-pilot proposals that are co-designed with the communities they would affect, to respect people as the experts on their own needs.

“With the Spring budget a couple of weeks ahead of us this work is a timely reminder that when people are involved in developing policy, it looks very different to the policy the government are implementing.”

Next month, Zack will be convening Londoners in City Hall to take the basic income conversation to the next stage at an event with the Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice, Debbie Weekes-Bernard invited to attend.

ENDS

Editors’ notes:

[1] 50% of Londoners say they support a universal basic income (a policy that makes sure everyone has an income, without a means test or requirement to work) with just 22% opposed.

[2] In November last year, 285 politicians and campaigners united to urge the Government to launch pilots in all four nations of the UK. The Mayor of London was among those signatories. The Mayor also confirmed to Zack that he is: “more than happy for London to be used as a pilot in relation to the exploration of a UBI.”

[3] Link in Related Documents below

[4] Call for a landmark change to Universal Credit so people can afford the essentials - research shows overwhelming public support for new ‘Essentials Guarantee’, 27 February 2023

The Welsh Government has launched a world-leading pilot involving young people leaving care 

The Scottish Government has indicated its intention to pilot Basic Income during this parliament

In England, Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham has repeatedly expressed his desire to pilot Basic Income in the city, saying that the idea's "time has come" 

YouGov found that Brits support the introduction of a basic income by a 20-point margin 

Communities like Grange Big Local in East Finchley have initiated work on a locally led micro pilot, but they need support