British Unit

1. Higher History British Unit Issue 4 - Labour Reforms

2. I can identify 5 areas which were targeted by the Labour 
Government. I can evaluate the successes and limitations of each of the 
Labour Reforms. I can assess the overall success of the Labour Government.

4. Task 1 First Page - How successful were the Labour reforms? Leave 2 pages between each heading- Factor 1 - Want Factor 2 - Disease Factor 3 - Ignorance Factor 4 - Squalor Factor 5 - Idleness

5. Context Sir William Beveridge 
Talks To Pathe 
Gazette (1942).mp4

6. Rationing In Britain.mp4 London Blitz.mp4

7. Section 1 - Want

8. Want What actions did the Labour government take? How successful were these reforms? p70 p135-136 The Welfare State- Charley's March of Time - 1948 Educational Film - S88TV1.mp4

9. The National Insurance Act, 1946 The Act created a compulsory contributory scheme for every worker. In return for the weekly contribution from workers, employers and government, an individual was entitled to…………… -- sickness and unemployment benefit -- old age pensions for women at 60 and men at 65 -- widows’ and orphans’ pensions -- and maternity and death grants. It was said that social provision was made for citizens from the 'cradle to the grave', catering for their needs from their time of birth to their death Some problems…………. (1) Weekly contributions took up about 5% of average earnings. (2) People joining the insurance scheme for the first time were not entitled to full pension benefits for ten years. (3) The pensions themselves were still not enough to live on. By the time the new rates were introduced in 1948 their value had been reduced by inflation. Pension levels remained below basic subsistence levels.

10. The National Assistance Act, 1948 The National Assistance Act of 1948 provided a safety net for those who fell through the net provided by the National Insurance Act. Those people not in work or who had not paid enough contributions to qualify for full benefit could apply for further assistance from National Assistance Boards. · The applicants were means tested. · The money for the extra assistance was provided by the government from taxation. Together with the National Insurance Act, this measure provided a whole new social security structure and really did provide a safety net through which no person should fall into serious poverty. The ‘means testing’ of national assistance meant many elderly were reluctant to apply for it.

11. 1946 Industrial Injuries Act was passed. The act made insurance against industrial injury compulsory for all employees. Under the terms of the act, industrial injury benefits were to be paid at a higher rate than for ordinary sickness. The act made insurance against industrial injury compulsory for all employees. (success) Under the terms of the act, industrial injury benefits were to be paid at a higher rate than for ordinary sickness plus they were paid by the government not the employer

12. Evaluation Rowntree’s investigation of poverty in York, 1950 Primary poverty down from 36% in 1936 to 2% Martin Pugh 'If the Welfare State did not abolish poverty altogether, it represented the most effective single campaign against it'. Kathleen Woodroofe 'State action created a system, in which welfare support was believed to be a right, free of the shame of the old poor law.'

13. Section 2 - Disease

14. What problems existed with Britain's health system? What actions did the Labour government take? How successful were these reforms? Charley's Very Good Health - the National Health - Cartoon - 1950's.mp4 p136-137 p71-72

15. Knowledge In 1946 the National Health Service (NHS) Act was passed and for the first time every British citizen could receive medical, dental and optical services free of charge. (universal, comprehensive, free at the point of use) Treatment by GPs and in hospitals was free also. These benefits were free at point of use, no patient being asked to pay for any treatment on the spot

16. Analysis The NHS has to be considered the greatest single achievement in the development of the welfare state as it meant that healthcare was no longer based on your ability to pay (achievement) The NHS faced a backlog of untreated problems, with doctors, dentists and opticians being inundated with patients queuing up for treatment that they had previously been unable to afford. Prescriptions rose from 7 million per month before the NHS to 13.5 million per month in September 1948. (limitation) The enormous expense of the NHS came as a severe shock to the government and by 1950 the NHS was costing £358 million per year. The Labour Government, consequently, had to backtrack on its principle of a free service by introducing charges for spectacles and dental treatment. (limitation) Further, the government was constrained in what it could realistically afford by the economy's performance and plans for new hospitals and health centres had to be shelved. (limitation)

17. Evaluation Alan Sked and Chris Cook 'The NHS was almost revolutionary...since it improved the quality of life of most of the British people'. Charles Webster, Official historian of the NHS. The NHS failed to improve the general medical service available to the bulk of the population. The middle class benefited to some extent, but the lower classes continued to experience a humiliating standard of care.

18. Factor 3 - Ignorance All = 3 sentences of knowledge plus 2 points of analysis Most = 4 sentences of knowledge plus 4 points of analysis. Some = An evaluation using a quote to support it.

19. Before 1939 Education services varied across the country. The quality of secondary education was variable. Private schools offered pupils smaller classes and more extra-curricular opportunities. Many children received no education past primary stage and poorer parents could not afford the fees that some secondary schools charged. Scholarships did exist but pressure to leave school and bring in wages was very high.

21. Factor 3 - Ignorance What actions did the Labour government take? How successful were these reforms? Ignorance.mp4 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7773974.stm p139-140 p73-74 p199 p91-92

22. Knowledge In 1944 the war time Coalition government passed the Education Act. The act was actually proposed by the Conservatives, but after the 1945 general election, it was the Labour government that implemented its measures. The Butler Act made secondary education compulsory until the age of 15 years and provided meals, milk and medical services at every school. An examination at age 11 years (called the '11+') placed children in certain types of school, according to their ability. Those who got the best marks in this exam went to senior secondary (grammar schools in England) and were expected to 'stay on' after 15 years and possibly go to university and get jobs in management. Children who failed the exam went to a ‘junior secondary’ or ‘technical school’ and were not expected to stay at school after 15 years and they were expected to get unskilled types of employment.

24. With education, the government had introduced the '11+' examination as a selection procedure for the limited number of places at senior secondary and grammar schools. This policy was popularly seen to be socially divisive and highly contentious/ controversial (limitation) ‘for every selection there was a rejection’ – B Walsh (primary source) Critics said that little had been done to enhance the opportunities for working class children, most of whom left school at 15 years after 1947 with few if any paper qualifications. (limitation) Furthermore, the building of new schools concentrated on the primary sector to cope with the baby boom; the secondary sector was largely neglected. (limitation)

25. Morrison, Morrison, Monaghan 'The Labour government did little for the educational welfare of the working class'. Martin Pugh 'For Socialists it was also a matter of regret that the reforms failed to eliminate...private education, which continued to offer advantages to the wealthy'.

26. Debate How would you change education? Private Schools Exams Work Experience Uniform Specialist schools Setting Discipline Teachers

27. Section 4 - Squalor

28. What problems existed with Britain's housing system? What actions did the Labour government take? How successful were these reforms? Charley in New Town (1948).mp4 p138-139 p74-76

31. Section 5 - Idleness

32. What problems existed with Britain's levels of employment? What actions did the Labour government take? How successful were these reforms? p141 p76-77

33. Knowledge The government nationalised several industries. This involved the government taking over industries in order to run them for the benefit of the people. The government took over the Bank of England, coal production, steel manufacture, gas and the railways, among others.

34. Positive Labour managed to beat even the most optimistic target for unemployment, by reducing it to 2.5%. In certain industries, such as coal mining, pay and conditions improved considerably for the miners. Negative Some historians have argued that the reason that unemployment fell was more to do with private investment and loans through Marshall Aid, than with nationalisation. Furthermore, it has been suggested that nationalising industries resulted in a drop in efficiency and production as the government was not as concerned with maximising profits.

35. 'The single most important domestic achievement of the Labour government was the maintenance of full employment after the war'. Brooke 'Full employment was the result of the boom in private investment after 1945'. Addison

36. For Labour carried out its manifesto promises. By 1951, Britain had a comprehensive system of social security, unified health and education services and full employment. Above all Labour was firmly identified with the Welfare State. By 1948 the five giants of ‘want’, ‘disease’, ‘idleness’, ‘ ignorance’, and‘squalor’ were under attack. Labour was attempting to attack the root causes of poverty rather than waiting for the results to show themselves and then help. The state was now providing a ‘safety net’ which protected people of all classes from ‘the cradle to the grave’. When Rowntree investigated conditions in York in 1950, he found that primary poverty had gone down to 2%compared to 36% in 1936.

37. Against Labour had not ushered in the socialist utopia many had expected. Deprivation and poverty had been reduced but not eliminated. The capitalist system, with all its inequalities continued much as before despite the nationalisation of the ’commanding heights’ of the economy. The Welfare state, it was argued was applying a bandage instead of carrying out radical surgery needed to treat the problem.

38. Attachments Sir William Beveridge Talks To Pathe Gazette (1942).mp4 London Blitz.mp4 Rationing In Britain.mp4 The Welfare State- Charley's March of Time - 1948 Educational Film - S88TV1.mp4 Charley's Very Good Health - the National Health - Cartoon - 1950's.mp4 Ignorance.mp4 Charley in New Town (1948).mp4