Positives and negatives of liberal reforms

• Provision of School Meals Act 1906
• Medical Inspections Act 1907
• Old Age Pensions Act 1908
• Children's Charter 1908
• Labour exchanges 1909
• National Insurance Act 1911 Part 1
• National Insurance Act 1911 Part 2
• Provision of School Meals Act 1906


  Allowed local authorities to provide free school meals for children in schools
• Provision of School Meals Act 1906


  School meals rose from 9 million in 1906 to 14 million in 1914
• Provision of School Meals Act 1906

  Local Authorities could choose if they wanted to implement the act or not and therefore many choose to ignore it leaving less than a third of local authorities providing free school meals
• Provision of School Meals Act 1906


  Health deteriorated again during school holidays
• Medical Inspections Act 1907


  Compulsory medical inspections of children were to take place in school
• Medical Inspections Act 1907


  Health problems in children were identified for free
• Medical Inspections Act 1907


  There was no money provided to treat illnesses and infections discovered and parents were unable to pay for medicines to treat the issues
• Medical Inspections Act 1907


  Free medical treatment was not provided until 1912 and even then some authorities did not provide it
• Children's Charter 1908


  Created a wealth of provisions for the safety of children
• Children's Charter 1908


  Imposed severe punishments for neglecting or treating children cruelly
• Children's Charter 1908


  Made it illegal to sell cigarettes to children or send them out begging
• Children's Charter 1908


  Separate juvenile courts were set up to allow children to be treated differently to adults
• Old Age Pension Act 1908


  Provided the elderly with an income which meant they could contribute to the family home
• Old Age Pension Act 1908

  People over 70 with an annual income of £21 to £31 would receive a pension (1 to 5 shillings per week), by 1914 1 million people were receiving a pension
• Old Age Pension Act 1908

  It was not enough money for those in severe poverty, the age limit of 70 was too high as for many old age came much earlier due to hard working conditions, many also never reached 70 due to hard working conditions, those who earned over £31 did not receive anything, pensions were only provided if people had not been imprisoned in the last ten years or had not avoided work
• 1909 Labour Exchange Act


  Created job centres
• 1909 Labour Exchange Act


  There were offices to help the unemployed find work, by 1913 430 labour exchanges were operating, by 1914 3,000 people a day were being provided with work
• 1909 Labour Exchange Act


  It was not compulsory for employers to register vacancies, it was also criticised for only finding temporary and low paid work, so did not reduce poverty
• National Insurance Act 1911 part 1

  Provided an income to those who could not work due to sickness
• We were receiving a pension
• 1909 Labour Exchange Act created job centres
• National Insurance Act 1911 part 1 provided an income to those who could not work due to sickness
• National Insurance Act part 2 provided an income to those who could not find a job
• Prefabricated houses


  1. The government tried to tackle the housing problem first of all by building prefabricated (prefabs) houses

  2. This was meant to be a temporary solution to the housing shortage

  3. The government built 157,000 houses of its kind to immediately deal with the housing shortage

  4. They were easily built and included toilets inside which was a first for many working class people
• Council Houses


  1. Bevan restricted private housing building to ensure building supplies and labour could be used for council housing

  2. Around 700,000 council houses were built between 1945 and 1951 to provide good quality family accommodation with reasonable rent
• Negatives of an attempt to deal with Squalor

  • By the time of 1951 election there was still a shortage of 750,000 homes and therefore, many people still remained homeless
  • A great deal of slum housing still existed in Britain
  • After the war there was a marriage and baby boom which only added to the pressure for housing
  • There was a shortage of building materials across the world and this resulted in a lack of houses being built
  • There was also a shortage of skilled labour and thus there was not enough people to build the houses
  • Not enough was done to help those in need as many began to squat in disused army bases out of sheer frustration
  • Bevan was given Ministry of Health and Housing which was too much for one person. It should have been a separate Ministry of Housing
  • Bevan emphasised quality over quantity and insisted on a high standard for council houses meaning there were less houses built
  • Government faced financial restraints as there were many 'giants' being dealt with such as disease and want. They had to prioritise
  • The provision of prefab houses was only a temporary solution to the housing shortage
  • Many new towns were planned but not built by 1951 - 12 planned in Scotland but only 4 built
  • Also, the new towns were isolated and lacked proper amenities which destroyed previous communities
• 1944 Employment White Paper


  This said that the government was committed to working towards full employment
• Nationalisation of Industries


  1. Unprofitable industries were subsidised in order to keep people in work

  2. Government took control of certain industries such as iron and steel manufacture and this helped the government to keep unemployment rates very low