Social insurance and allied services : memorandum on the Beveridge Report
1943-02-10 1943 1940s 24 pages 8. the following statement regarding the rules which govern the granting of Supplementary Allowances to Old Age Pensioners and able-bodied unemployed by the Assistance Board :- "The result of legislation on this subject has been gradually to add to the form...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
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10 February 1943
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/9F457834-4158-4076-93F9-8B81BEE45DCA http://hdl.handle.net/10796/EE285BD2-BE73-411C-9F73-837F5943E3B2 |
| Summary: | 1943-02-10
1943
1940s
24 pages
8. the following statement regarding the rules which govern the granting of Supplementary Allowances to Old Age Pensioners and able-bodied unemployed by the Assistance Board :- "The result of legislation on this subject has been gradually to add to the forms of income or means which are to be disregarded in granting assistance, and in many cases an applicant may have more than one of such disregarded resources. For example, as an extreme case, it is possible for an old age pensioner without dependants to be eligible for a supplementary pension although already in receipt of an income of 37/6d a week (old age pension, 10/-; disability pension 20/-; and superannuation allowance 7/6d) and possessing invested capital of £575 (£375 war savings and £200 other investments)". Further, Sir William Beveridge states in his Report (page 12) that "the work of the Assistance Board shows that assistance subject to means test can be administered with sympathetic justice and discretion taking full account of individual circumstances". (24) It may therefore well be that such Want as exists could largely be abolished, and the first objective of the "Beveridge" plan thereby largely met, if everyone in need had the right to go to the Assistance Board for supplementary allowances. (25) When it comes to the second objective of the "Beveridge" proposals, the position is that the proposals contemplate a comprehensive plan - expanding the existing Insurance Services and introducing new Services - under which payments on a maintenance standard would be provided as a legal right to all sections of the community whether they are in want or not. (26) Such a conception as an ideal is undoubtedly laudable if it were practicable to call upon the beneficiaries to pay such weekly contributions as would enable them to bear the whole cost of the scheme themselves. Sir William Beveridge states in his Report (page 165) that "Want could have been abolished before the present war by a redistribution of income within the wage-earning classes, without touching any of the wealthier classes". (27) Experience has, however, shown that compulsory schemes of Social Service can only be carried through on the basis of a tripartite contributory system - such as that which already exists in Unemployment, Health and Contributory Pensions - under which the beneficiary is subsidised by the Employer and the general Taxpayer in meeting the premium necessary to provide the Benefits. (28)/
200/B/3/2/C216/5/50 |
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |