Universal benefits : good principle/often poor practice? In Scotland [ + elsewhere] today & tomorrow … & tomorrow

The Scottish media saw   a flurry of activity last  week over the apparent leaking of  a year old report from John Swinney the Cabinet Secretary that cautioned his cabinet colleagues on the balance of available revenues and the ambitions for public service improvements that they might all have.

The headlines were all about an independent Scotland not being able to afford state pension payments and various other looming disasters  that such  a constitutional change might  mean for us . It was claimed – by some – to be a huge blow to the ‘Yes’ campaign

Personally, I incline  to the view that  it’s the cover- up that will do the   damage to the Yes campaign  ;  look at Nixon [ ex President ] ; Huhne [ ex various things]. It is getting to be a b it of a habit for this SNP government  - or maybe they just get found out more often.

Reviewing  what kind of social entitlements and cash benefits we should have, and any society can afford,  and the way in which they actually serve the kind of social purpose those who introduce them  argue for,  is just the kind of discussion we should have in a mature democracy . However…….maybe we don’t really live in a mature democracy ?

I have recently been in discussions with different groups of people where ] we have talked about benefits/entitlements / costs etc . Although at one  meeting  I was labelled as  being in favour of ‘means testing ‘ the discussion in each case  was generally quite reflective .

I am not in favour of ‘means testing’ , although I must admit  if I could find another phrase that could replace that old cliché , I’d ©; ™; or ® it faster than  the speed of light and licence it to every government around, cos they’re all looking for something similar.

What I am in favour of is a  more reflective and candid discussion than we generally have about the reach and purpose of various forms of social and cash entitlements  & benefits , many of which go remarkably unexamined . The reason I argue for this is that we could then have a clearer sense of what we’re trying to achieve through our wide range of  service entitlements and cash benefits .

Consider 3  different forms of entitlement /benefit /service that are :

A] Universal in form; that available to everyone who meets certain criteria [ often age or capability related] and are totally  un-related to any individual or household income;  and

B] Either politically entrenched as a hot rail  issue for every  party or just plain taken for granted and never explored in any  broader context.

C] A benefit or service than I access  , enjoy or use so have direct participant experience of .

Now I could write pages and pages on each of these benefits, with comparison  and data to support my arguments ,  but  here  I’ve included just one factor  that I think shows why we might, at the very least,  talk about these  more thoughtfully  than we do at present .

1. In ‘The Scotsman ‘ this week-end , Tiffany Jenkins wrote a persuasive [ though poorly evidenced] commentary on maintaining free entry to galleries and museums . I’m one of those people who goes to such galleries and museums a lot , in various places throughout the UK . On that same Saturday afternoon I went to the theatre , where I was expected – and I expected – to pay for my ticket . Why are the visuals arts privileged over the performing arts – and has anyone even noticed that they are ?
2. I recently bought  a painting and paid for it ; that’s unsurprising isn’t it . The previous painting we bought – or technically are still buying – was purchase through the ‘Own Art ‘ scheme operated by Creative Scotland [ and the sister organisations in NIreland and England] . My purchase was interest free over 10 months and no deposit required . Probably the best credit terms you can get . It’s operated through Hitachi Capital – who, not being a charity ,  I imagine get their interest on the loan paid by somebody . Those of you who are taxpayers and don’t buy such pieces of art financed my  loan .Thanks for that folks; I really am grateful .
3. I have  a bus pass – or as it is technically referred to – ‘a national entitlement card ‘. Since I used to buy a monthly pass  for Lothian Buses anyway, I have  a pretty good idea what such bus access would cost me – if you could buy an all Scotland season ticket – and reckon it worth about £90 or so a month. Of course pre-tax it's worth a lot more than that to some of the beneficiaries. I am fortunate enough to live in a city with one of the best bus services in the country close to a  route where I can  get on any one of 12 or so services , rarely waiting for more 2 or 3 minutes . We have family who live in Perthshire where there is one bus service. Other than at either end of the school day , services are hourly or so , except in the evening when they are 2 hourly . In such villages, and many other parts of Scotland, access to car is a necessity rather than  an added convenience . Is a ‘transport voucher ‘ of this kind as valuable to the 000’s of people in Scotland who don’t have the same kind of access to frequent bus services of the kind I have ?

The discussion we should be having is surely that in circumstances where all resources are scarce – and they always are scarce – what’s the optimal way of organising taxes; benefits and charges  to the best advantage of those people we claim we’re doing that for.