Newid, the party campaigning to establish a citizen’s assembly in Wales, will detail a plan to boost economic activity and relieve pressure on public services at a meeting in Cardiff Bay on Thursday afternoon.
Under Newid’s scheme, people throughout Wales will be able to use any unpaid time they have available to work for ‘hour credits’ that can be spent immediately on services provided by other people or saved and accrued.
The scheme will allow people who are either unemployed or working part-time to utilize whatever skills they have, no matter how basic, to create something of value other than money out of otherwise unproductive time.
Newid’s leader, Martin Wilding Davies, explains, “One person might elect to spend a day a week cleaning and then spend the ‘hours’ they earn on childcare. Another might do clerical work and spend the hours they earn on building work while another might provide car maintenance and spend the time they earn on laundry or perhaps even a haircut.”
Unlike a conventional barter arrangement, the provider and recipient will both contract with a central agency that manages and allocates the work through local offices. The agency will provide an electronic account through which hours can be deposited and spent. It will largely be staffed and administered by participants in the scheme.
The value of ‘earned hours’ will not be subject to tax and participation in the scheme will not affect entitlement to benefits or employment status.
Wilding Davies comments, “Thanks to our moribund economy, there are many people in Wales who are time rich and cash poor. This scheme is not a substitute for full-time employment but it will create a massive amount of economic activity and social value for a relatively small investment.”
“It is not an unproven idea; there are thousands of small scale community schemes like this working very successfully around the world. But this will be the first time it’s been applied on a national basis anywhere in the world. If we can convince the majority of people in Wales to get involved, it will dramatically reduce the pressure on public services. It could also reduce council tax bills if adopted by local authorities.”
“Over time, Newid’s scheme could improve the situation of the elderly and reduce the cost of pension and social service provision, especially by allowing people to stay in their own home. By accruing ‘earned hours’ throughout their lives, pensioners will be able to afford home help with cleaning, cooking and maintenance once they need assistance.”
“One thing is for certain; no matter which party wins the general election, the government will have to cut public services to pay for the bank bailouts. A lesson we should have learnt from the events of the last two years is that our banking and political systems cannot resolve the problems we face as a nation. To improve the quality of life in Wales we need to embrace new economics and new politics. We need to collaborate with each other.”
“The success of the scheme would be greatly enhanced if the Welsh Assembly Government were to sponsor the idea. I suspect the politicians are too busy with their own political agendas but I’d love to be proved wrong.”
