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The welfare state in Scotland is about to change dramatically.

For the first time, the Scottish Government will partner the UK Government in sharing responsibility for social security in Scotland.

This is the result of The Vow, the Smith Commission and the most recent Scotland Act.

The first steps will be taken later this year when the SNP Government introduce their long-awaited social security Bill into the Scottish Parliament.

But broader questions have emerged: Should we be going further? Should we be taking this opportunity to rethink how we do social security?

News has emerged that councils in Glasgow and Fife are considering the introduction of some form of basic citizen’s income.

This is an idea that would abolish a large part of our existing welfare state, replacing a broad array of benefits with a single universal payment.

This is Green Party policy and was also advocated last year by the usually centre-right think tank Reform Scotland.

It is an idea that could unite the political left and right.

Our welfare system is already complex and devolution will serve only to make it even more complicated.

The Scottish Government, local authorities, the DWP and HMRC (who administered tax credits) will all have to work together.

Ensuring that our most vulnerable citizens, who rely on social security, do not fall through the cracks will be vital – but extremely difficult to achieve.

The advantage of a citizen’s income is that it would sweep much of this complexity away.

Everyone would be entitled to the same basic income. This would not be taxed but whatever you earned on top would be taxable.

A second advantage is that there would be no disincentives to work.

The current benefits system means that work does not always pay. Universal Credit is designed to reverse this but we are still some distance from its full roll-out across Scotland.

Under a citizen’s income model, work would always pay – and that is a feature of our social security system we have to get right.

There is, of course, a downside.

The Greens suggest a weekly income of £100 for adults and £50 for children. Other proponents suggest lower rates.

Under the Greens’ proposal, a citizen’s income could be afforded only by raising income tax.

There is no question about it costing more but if it could be shown to change behaviour and trigger a bigger workforce (as suggested by Reform Scotland), there may be merit in giving the idea further consideration.

As the law stands, the Scottish Parliament could not replace our current benefits system with a new citizen’s income – this would have to be done at Westminster.

But if Scotland can lead the way in giving the idea serious consideration, that would be useful.

After all, as we embark on our journey of welfare devolution, we are going to be confronting some big and knotty questions.

It is time for some big thinking – and a citizen’s income is certainly a big idea.