1. Labour Reforms
Assessment Essay

3. Labour Reforms Assessment Introduction
You need a couple of sentences to put the issue in context.
Key words to use are
Labour
Beveridge
1945 Election

4. Labour Reforms Assessment Introduction
I need to be told the giants that the Labour Party attacked.
Want
Disease
Ignorance
Squalor
Idleness
General

5. Labour Reforms Assessment Introduction
Finally I need to be told how you will deal with each group.
What was done
What worked
What could have been done better

6. Labour Reforms Assessment Historiography
I need to be told that this is still a live issue which historians disagree If you can find quotes good. The 3 possible arguments are :-
They were successful
They were not successful
They did as well as they could have in the circumstances.

7. Want Want: lack of money which will push you into poverty
What was done:
National Insurance Act 1946
Insurance based
From cradle to grave
Whole work force covered

8. Want Successes National Insurance Act 1946 Comprehensive Universal
Reaches subsistence level

9. Want Failures Bureaucratic Inflation eats benefits
Contributions 5% of wages
Not full benefits for 10 years
Restricted to 156 weekly contributions

10. Want National Assistance 1948 Successes
Safety net for those not covered
Finishes Poor Law
Needs test less stringent

11. Want National Assistance 1948 Failures
The main failure of this Act was to put a new scheme in rather than absorb the costs into the National Insurance Act.

12. Want Family Allowance Act Industrial Injuries Act 1946
Not means tested
Paid to mother
No real failures
Industrial Injuries Act 1946
Paid by Government
All workers covered

13. Disease National Health Service Act 1946
If you are ill you can’t work and will fall into poverty.
This was to provide a comprehensive universal national standard of care which was free at the point of need.

14. Disease Successes The uptake of services showed the need.
It was cheaper than other countries as a result of economies of scale.

15. Disease Failures The main one you must mention is the cost.
This leads to a retreat from free at the point of need Glasses and dental treatment charged.
National standard of care compromised at start. Pay beds in hospitals
Middle class gain disproportionately

16. Ignorance
The way to look at this section is that practical measures such as rebuilding schools and training teachers was successful but the educational theory failed.
Rebuilding schools: 1176 schools built 928 primary schools.
Teachers: teachers trained

17. Ignorance Education Act 1944
This Act increased the school leaving age to 15. it also started grants for higher education.
It was designed to send children to the best type of school for their abilities
Grammar Schools for academic
Technical Schools for skilled
Junior Secondaries for Workforce

18. Ignorance Education Act 1944
The problem was that to decide which type of school a test was given at age 11 which is far too young. The result of this test was final. If you failed you went to a Junior secondary with no chance of later advancement.

19. Ignorance Education Act 1944
To make this worse Technical schools never took off and 20% of people got to Grammar schools and the rest were dumped in Junior Secondaries.
Also the middle class gained disproportionately as they no longer had to pay for Grammar School.

20. Squalor Rebuilding Programme Prefab houses Council Estates
New Towns Act 1946
The main problem was that although they built a lot of houses they could not keep up with the amount they had promised.

21. Squalor
The other problem was that they tagged it on to Bevan’s remit and he was fully involved in setting up the National Health Service. It deserved its own Ministry.
Bevan’s character as a socialist was also important. He disagreed with houses being built for profit and built 4 council houses for each private house. He also concentrated on quality houses rather than quantity.

22. Squalor
Finally the New Towns were designed to have their own industries but in practice became dormitory towns for the major cities.

23. Idleness
The key thing about this issue is that there was plenty work needing done. Plenty people willing to work and enough money from America to pay them so unemployment would have probably been low even if Labour did nothing.

24. Idleness
The two main things they did were to introduce Keynesian Economics which concentrated on employment rather than profit. This worked in the short term but made factories less competitive and built up problems for the future.

25. Idleness Nationalisation
They took oversome of the main industries and ran them for the country. This did not give a better service or help workers. It also gave Trade Unions a lort of power and they aske for high wages which caused inflation.

26. General
All giants were targeted by an inexperienced government Proactive in the face of difficult conditions. Rowntree showed 36% poverty in % by 1950.
However they could have Improved the economy first. Also the Middle class gained most

27. Conclusion Sum up the giants. Want – Successful
Disease – Successful but expensive.
Ignorance – Successful in practical issues but a failure in theory.
Squalor – a qualified success but they promised too much
Idleness – Probably didn’t need to do anything and what they did built up problems for the future

28. Conclusion Finally make a decision.
They probably did as much as they could in the face of Britain’s problems and the winter of 1947.