SCOTTISH GREENS SUPPORT LETS TIME-BASED CURRENCY 

http://www.scottishgreens.org.uk 

Local Economy  
http://www.scottishgreens.org.uk/policies/ppecon.htm 

The breakdown of the community has become a great concern in the late 
20th Century. Previously the community and the household satisfied 
most basic needs such as food and clothing, now neighbours no longer 
need to work or communicate with each other to live. Even our simplest 
needs such as food are produced through multi-national networks that 
span continents. As the local links between production and consumption 
have deteriorated, people have become more remote from how their needs 
are met. For example the exploitation of child workers in developing 
countries by Western clothing manufacturers is not widely realised by 
people buying clothing in Scotland. 

 The result of this trend has been a concentration of the power to 
create jobs into the hands of increasingly few corporations - the 
scrabble for inward investment becoming central in the hope to revive 
deprived communities. The fragility of the global market has become a 
grave concern in the future of our communities. 

Greens argue for a scaling down of economic policy to community level 
so that local needs can be partly met by a local economy which can 
also give people fulfilling livelihoods. In the short term Greens 
will; challenge the recent reform of the Welfare Benefits system to 
allow claimants greater participation in voluntary work and LETS 
(Local Exchange Trading Systems) allowing the development of local 
communities and the use and learning of skills  

In the medium to long term Greens will; 

bring public utilities under locally accountable democratic structures

establish a Scottish Community Development Bank which will offer 
start-up finance to community business and Financial Micro Initiatives 
such as LETS, Community Supported Agriculture and small scale energy 
projects, 

move towards the introduction of a Citizens Income Scheme which would 
offer a basic living allowance to all removing the poverty trap 
creating a level playing field for personal choice between work, 
further education, or parenting.

It would also remove the need for most Welfare Benefits and student 
grants, develop the use of local currency systems such as LETS so that 
they can be used in the part payment of local taxes.

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