• Swindon & Wiltshire Economy
• Thursday January 8 2026

Will Bristol be the testbed for Universal Basic Income?

Could Bristol be a testbed for Universal Basic Income? We’ll find out next week when a Green Party motion goes before Bristol City Council asking for a trial of the benefit.

UBI is a periodic, unconditional cash payment to all citizens, regardless of their income or work status.

It is intended to provide a safety net, reduce poverty, simplify welfare, and address job displacement from automation – and increasingly AI.

No country has full UBI, but small-scale trials around the globe have shown positive impacts on fighting poverty. Opponents, though, say it is a potential disincentive to work.

The motion going before the city council on Tuesday, January 13 says Covid has had “drastic impacts” on household incomes and employment in the city.

It also highlights the threat to jobs from automation and artificial intelligence.

The trial might start with people working in the city’s creative sector.

A network of Universal Basic Income Labs has been set up and works with local authorities across the UK developing UBI proposals to address problems such as poverty, inequality, discrimination and environmental damage, long-term and immediately, in relation to coronavirus.

One is operating in Bristol.

“Given its history of social innovation, wealth of expertise, and active networks across community, business and public services, with a talented and diverse creative community; Bristol is ideally placed to pilot a UBI,” says the motion.

The motion, being moved by Cllr Ani Townsend, calls on Bristol City Council to “send a letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Minister for Culture, all local MPs and the Mayor of the West of England Combined Authority asking for a trial of Universal Basic Income in the city for the creative sector and other groups that may benefit from such a trial, such as care leavers, citing the above reasons.”