Basic income pilot for care leavers: about the pilot

Those who were eligible to take part were identified by their local authorities and provided with information and guidance about the pilot in advance of their 18th birthdays. They were invited to participate in pre-pilot ‘better off’ discussions to work out if joining the pilot was right for them. Enrolment forms were then submitted in time to receive their first payment from the month after their 18th birthday. 

Some young people joined the pilot later than intended, due to administrative or personal reasons. Those young people still received 24 months’ worth of payments.

Day-to-day delivery of the pilot was largely the responsibility of local authority social services teams across Wales. Social services teams were the interface between the young people and the pilot and continued to support the young people as they would do any other care-leaver or care-experienced young person. Other important stakeholders delivering aspects of the pilot included NEC Software Solutions, who administered the payments, and Citizens Advice, who provided additional advice and support to young people, including pre-pilot ‘better off’ discussions and other general advice. Voices from Care Cymru organised and chaired regular practitioner meetings as well as providing support to young people.

If a young person receiving basic income remained under the care of a Welsh local authority, they continued to receive the basic income irrespective of where they chose to live after their 18th birthday. This ensured that young people could relocate for studies or for work without participation in the basic income pilot impacting their life choices.

Those who were eligible to take part were identified by their local authorities and provided with information and guidance about the pilot in advance of their 18th birthdays. They were invited to participate in pre-pilot ‘better off’ discussions to work out if joining the pilot was right for them. Enrolment forms were then submitted in time to receive their first payment from the month after their 18th birthday. 

Some young people joined the pilot later than intended, due to administrative or personal reasons. Those young people still received 24 months’ worth of payments.

Day-to-day delivery of the pilot was largely the responsibility of local authority social services teams across Wales. Social services teams were the interface between the young people and the pilot and continued to support the young people as they would do any other care-leaver or care-experienced young person. Other important stakeholders delivering aspects of the pilot included NEC Software Solutions, who administered the payments, and Citizens Advice, who provided additional advice and support to young people, including pre-pilot ‘better off’ discussions and other general advice. Voices from Care Cymru organised and chaired regular practitioner meetings as well as providing support to young people.

If a young person receiving basic income remained under the care of a Welsh local authority, they continued to receive the basic income irrespective of where they chose to live after their 18th birthday. This ensured that young people could relocate for studies or for work without participation in the basic income pilot impacting their life choices.

The payment was unconditional with no requirements attached. Individuals could work and earn additional income with no impact on their basic income payments.

The payment was the same for everyone and was not altered during the pilot. Payments were made to individuals and not to households.

There were no restrictions on how people could choose to spend their basic income payments. 

Recipients received 24 months’ worth of payments at a value of £1,600 per month, pre-tax. HMRC and DWP confirmed that the payment interacted with the tax and benefits system and was recognised as income. The income was taxed at source at the basic rate of tax (20%), meaning that recipients received £1,280 per month after tax. 

Payments began the month after the recipient’s 18th birthday, or the month after their late enrolment. 

There were certain circumstances which meant that individuals did not receive the full 24 months’ worth of payments. For example, if an individual went into custody their payment was paused until they were released. 

All eligible recipients were required to have a UK bank account to receive the basic income payments. A third-party payment provider was contracted to administer the payments to individuals and to handle payment-related enquiries. 

At enrolment, recipients could choose whether to receive their payment in 1 or 2 instalments per month. This payment frequency could be changed at any point during the pilot. Recipients could also opt to have rent payments deducted from their basic income and paid directly to landlords.

Prior to any decision about joining the pilot, eligible applicants were invited to attend sessions with an independent advisor, where they had the opportunity to discuss the application/payment process and the impacts this could have on their benefit entitlement, education, employment and any other relevant matters. This helped them to make an informed choice about participation.

The evaluation has been led by the Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE) at Cardiff University with partners at the University of Oxford, the University of York, Kings College London, and Northumbria University.

It will run until 2027 and will report annually throughout this period. A longer-term evaluation framework using administrative data will be developed to enable us to understand the impact of the pilot on the lives of those taking part beyond 2027. 

The evaluation is managed by officials from the Welsh Government Social Research profession.

Read more about the pilot’s evaluation.