The Beveridge Report

The conservatives recognised the extent of public approval for the legacy of the Attlee government. Most Conservatives grasped the political realities of the time. There can be no outright rejection of the welfare state, nor a total reversal of nationalisation. Attitudes towards industry, the trade unions and social policy were going to have to be very different from the 1930s because the experiences of the war years had made people far more ready to accept the need for state intervention and planning. The post-war years had seen living standards rise, proving to be very popular

The report lead to the creation of the Welfare State that includes the National Health Services (NHS). The Beveridge report was not fully implemented by the coalition government until after the general election of 1945 that gave victory to the Labour party. The new prime minister, Clement Attlee, announced he would introduce the welfare state outlined in the 1942 Beveridge Report. The report include the establishment of a National Health Service in 1948 with free medical treatment for all. A national system of benefits was also introduced to provide 'social security' so that the population would be protected from the 'cradle to the grave'. The new system was partly built on the national insurance scheme set up by Lloyd George in 1911. People in work still had to make contributions each week, as did employers, but the benefits provided were now much greater (Bbc.co.uk, 2016).

In 1928, a national health insurance scheme was proposed but not implemented because it would have required businesses to provide contributions to health insurance for their employees (Evolution of Government Involvement in Health Care, n.d). Another national health insurance scheme was proposed in 1938 but it was also rejected (Evolution of Government Involvement in Health Care, n.d; Hilless & Healy, 2001). The next proposal was the 1945 Pharmaceuticals Benefits Act. This Act was not implemented because the Australian Medical Association challenged it in the High Court of Australia and it was decided that parliament had “exceeded its constitutional power” (Hilless & Healy, 2001). In 1946, under the Hospital Benefits Act, the Commonwealth began to subsidise public hospitals under the condition that patients would not be charged (Evolution of Government Involvement in Health Care, n.d; Hilless & Healy, 2001). This act is similar to the current Medicare system.

This essay will examine how the development of the Welfare State and the NHS changed the lives of the people of Britain since its introduction in 1948. To enable me to do so, I will analyse and evaluate the key relevant aspects that happened during that period.

Disraeli believed in an organic society held together by duty and responsibility, and was responsible for the Second Reform Act which gave the working class the vote and also improved housing conditions and hygiene. This is often seen as a form of Tory welfarism. One nationism reached its peak in the 1950s and 1960s when conservative governments in the UK promoted social welfare, in stark contrast to later, New Right conservative governments such as the Thatcher Government (1979-90). In the 50s one-nation conservatism was seen as a ‘middle way’ between ‘laissez-faire’ liberalism and socialist state planning. Therefore, paternalistic conservatism could be seen as the way of moderation.

Later, findings from a series of reports including report from Royal commission on National Health Insurance in 1926; The Sankey Commission on Voluntary Hospitals in 1937; and reports from British Medical Association (BMA) in 1930 and 1938, all collectively indicated that inadequacy existed in the pattern of the services (Christopher, 2004; Webster, 2002). Evident were reports of conflicting care and duplication of work between the municipal and voluntary hospitals (Wheeler & Grice, 2000). Additionally, world war had a huge impact on the health services and the conditions in which hospitals, theatres, radiology and pathology department operated was very poor. Thus, no machinery existed that supported running of a coordinated healthcare system, hence a need for unified, simplified and cohesive system was felt (Smith, 2007). Furthermore, Royal Commission’s report suggested that funding for the health services might benefit from general taxation rather than its basis on insurance principle (Christopher, 2004). However, it was not until the Beveridge report in 1942, which provided a huge drive and momentum for a movement of change in the health services. And within subsequent years seen were the proposals for NHS drawn through the White Paper in 1944, then in 1946 the National Health Service Act and at last in 1948 the establishment of the NHS

The National Health Service was founded on the 5th July 1948. Winston Churchill was the prime minister at the time .The government decided to commission a report, addressing the ways in which Britain should be rebuilt after the Second World War had ended. The Beveridge report of 1942 (written by William Beveridge) identified five main points that needed to be addressed. These were Want (addressed poverty) disease (the lack of healthcare) ignorance (no education) squalor (represented the lack of housing) and idleness (unemployment). A Lot of politicians were confident that Winston Churchill would lead the conservatives to success in the general election. However this was not the case, clement Attlee of the labour party introduced all the

Following the welfare reforms that were introduced by the New Labour Government in 1997, the coalition Government has developed, extended and continued welfare-to-work programmes (Deacon and Patrick, 2012). The Government’s ‘rehabilitation revolution’ saw policies designed to reduce reoffending, and as a consequence resettlement initiatives emerged with welfare-to-work programmes (Ministry of Justice, 2010). Since the implementation of the ‘Work Programme’ in 2011, welfare provision has seen a high influx of ex-offenders and Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement (MAPPA) participants referred to programmes (Gov.UK, 2016). The main provider in Wales has delivered learning and development provision to approximately 24,000 ex-offenders (Working Links, 2013). The ultimate aim of the provider is to ensure participants secure sustainable employment. Accordingly, front-line staff have undergone specialist training to deal with ‘risk’ and mentor clients with complex and multiple needs. However, there is a dearth of research focusing on this contemporary phenomena. Considering the pivotal role employment schemes play in rehabilitating offenders, it is of paramount importance to determine whether or not the Governments confidence in employability schemes is justified.

Different attitudes to social welfare reforms from the 19th century onwards depended on what lifestyle a person was living in. If a person was wealthy, they enjoyed an easy life. However, on the other hand, if the person was poor then that would make their life harder and difficult to live. Any able-bodied poor person able to work did not receive help from the authorities. They only entered the workhouse because they were desperate. People within the workhouses lived in terrible conditions, overcrowded, poor hygiene. Another name given to the workhouse was ‘’the slums’’ (Tom, 2016). Strict rules were put into place. If rules were broken severe punishment would follow. Inmates of the workhouse were treated harshly. They all worked long hours

It is plain to see from the policies above that a comprehensive welfare system offering benefits on a universal level was created from the report written by William Beveridge. However, it was still subject to criticism. These miscalculations and misjudgements meant the elderly, the disabled and the long term unemployed still experienced poverty because the level of benefits were too low. (Fraser 2003) Beveridge’s vision was to have to little or no means-tested benefits, his idea was that very few people would fall into this category and it would only be used as a safety net. That was not the case, more and more people, mainly those on low incomes had to turn to means- tested National Assistance benefit. Beveridge did not fulfil his vision in this part of his plan. (Timmins 1996)

It saw high wages fought for by unions as being a factor in unemployment. They replaced grants with loans from the social fund, benefit eligibility was reduced and payments cut.Pensions decreased, council houses were sold and companies were privatised. Care in the community was introduced encouraging more care by family members (free). They pushed for the nuclear family, outcasting women and ostrecising single mothers.

Whether or not there truly was a ‘post war consensus’ in British politics from 1951 to 1964 is a highly debatable topic of which historians can often appear to be in two minds about; on one hand, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson infamously described the period as ‘Thirteen years wasted’, whereas historian Robert Blake (a supporter of the Conservatives’, regards it as a ‘Golden age of growth’. The likes of Kevin Jeffrey’s even argue that consensus had even started before the war. Overall, the central issue was the idea of a mixed economy.

World War II was a very important event in American history, but as bad as war is or seems to be there always seems to have better outcomes in the end. By the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and bringing America into the war it opened the eyes of all Americans to the problems not only domestically but internationally and the biggest problem that was discovered after the completion of World War II was the level of social equality around the world. It had been a problem that had plagued the world for many years but the atrocities that brought about by the war coupled with the ever growing eye of the media caused for greater concern in the light of social equality in the world.

Until 1905 this was the only form of welfare available. But in 1906 a Liberal government came to power and decided that a larger section of society and not just the extreme poor were in need of public services. An important social survey was carried out and the results were quite bleak. It showed that a third of the population of London was living in extreme poverty, facing a daily struggle just to survive. Conscription for the military during the Boer war(1899-1902) showed up another large problem. A very large number of young men were shown to be not fit enough for military service. This indicated poor public health and this was a serious concern to the

Social policy was introduced in the early 19th Century, post war. At this time, William Beveridge introduced the idea of a Welfare State to address poverty. He released a report for social reform known as the ‘five giants’ within society: squalor, disease, ignorance, idleness and want. The welfare state brought many positive improvements in Britain and Government passed reforms to address the poverty levels, introducing “cradle to grave “support. The National Health Service was set up which gave free health care to all and laws and Acts were put in place to help the young, the old, the sick the unemployed and the working class in times of need. The five issues raised by Beveridge