Exclusive:Report for 'doomed to fail' minimum income guarantee cost £1.3m as SNP exercise branded 'waste of time'
A plan to bring in a minimum income for all Scots has been under consideration for several years.
SNP ministers spent £1.3 million on a report into introducing a new welfare system despite knowing the scheme was “doomed to fail”.
The Scottish Government commissioned an expert panel to look at how it might implement a policy of bringing in a minimum income for all Scots. Findings from the Minimum Income Guarantee Expert Group included giving single parents in Scotland up to £28,000 in benefits without working.
However, sources close to the project insist there is little appetite to introduce the scheme, branded an “absurd” policy by opposition parties.
Now figures, released under Freedom of Information rules, show the costs for the expert group’s final report were £280,000. The group was supported by a government secretariat of five civil servants, making their salary costs over the time of generating the report around £260,000 a year.
It took from August 2021 to May 2025 - three years and ten months - to develop the findings. This is despite the fact the Holyrood Government does not have devolved all the reserved powers necessary to introduce a minimum income guarantee.
A recommendation of the report is the Scottish and UK governments should set up a "co-operation commission" to work out what powers would be needed.
An SNP insider said the report was a “waste of time” and “doomed to fail”. The source said: “This report is going to be used as a springboard for charities to lobby government for a minimum income guarantee - despite the fact it is impossible to see how we could afford to pay for it.
“We’ve paid a significant sum for a report we don’t agree with and that was doomed to fail, are now likely to distance ourselves from and now are going to be lobbied to implement it. It’s not just a waste of time and money, but also a disappointment for the charities involved.”
On publication of the minimum income guarantee report, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said the Government would consider the findings after the Holyrood recess.
Shadow finance secretary Craig Hoy said the report was a “shocking waste of taxpayers’ money”.
He said: “Especially when it was to explore a half-baked policy that everyone knew would be unaffordable and damaging. It’s typical that the SNP’s reaction is now to try to bury the issue and dodge responsibility.
“They should immediately rule out a minimum income guarantee – an absurd and eye-wateringly expensive policy that they have no powers to introduce. But they also owe Scots an explanation for why they ever devoted public money and civil servants’ time to this idea, and a detailed account of how so much taxpayers’ cash was wasted on this ridiculous report.”
The Scottish Government initially declined The Scotsman’s FOI request but, on appeal, gave a partial response. Using the pay bands of each civil servant in the secretariat, the salary costs per year would amount to around £260,000 annually.
A plan to bring in a minimum income for all Scots has been under consideration for several years. Supporters claim it would make for a fairer society with a reduced level of poverty if every Scot had a definite basic income, with the suggestion it would “would effectively end poverty for those in receipt”.
Opponents, however, claim it is too expensive a policy to implement and raise concerns that people would not work if they did not have to earn additional income.
The report from the independent expert group, which included representatives from 16 groups such as social mobility organisations, universities and charities, recommended the base income be £11,500 for a single adult. A couple would receive £20,000 while a couple with one child or a lone adult with two children would receive £28,000.
As their earnings rose to exceed the minimum income threshold, the payments would taper off.
The group laid out a series of plans to be rolled out over the next decade that would pave the way for Scotland to introduce a minimum income guarantee from 2036.
At the launch of the report in June, Satwat Rehman, one of the members of the group and chief executive of One Parent Families Scotland, said: “A minimum income guarantee would provide a lifeline, ensuring no single-parent household falls below a dignified minimum income – whether in or out of work, studying or training – and ensure families and children thrive and not just survive.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We thank the expert group for their expertise in drawing together their recommendations. We will take time to consider them and the associated research and will respond in due course.”
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