![]() CATEGORIES: BiologyChemistryConstructionCultureEcologyEconomyElectronicsFinanceGeographyHistoryInformaticsLawMathematicsMechanicsMedicineOtherPedagogyPhilosophyPhysicsPolicyPsychologySociologySportTourism |
The administration of welfare in the UKThe administration of the welfare state has undergone two major reforms since its inception. The first phase, covering the 1960s and 1970s, saw central government reformed in order to allow the planning and control of public expenditure by the Treasury. The aims of this reform were managerial efficiency and economic planning. The effect was to create a system in which the Treasury allocated resources to departments, and departments to services. The second phase, which has led in the 1980s and 1990s to restructuring of the civil service and the administration of welfare, has three main elements:
· quasi markets. Public services are required to act more like economic markets, with the separation of purchasing and provision of services and the introduction of competition. The trend is strongest in health and social care. In recent years, the work of many central government agencies serving government, like the DWP's information technology services or the DoH's laboratories, have been privatised or contracted out; the main role of the agencies that remain is direct service provision to the public. Scotland The powers of the Scottish Government are devolved from Westminster. There are devolved powers, which are delegated to the Scottish Government, and reserved powers, which are retained by Westminster. Devolved powers include health, housing, social care, education, local government and civil law. Reserved powers include social security and nearly all taxation. Currently the responsibilities of Scottish Ministers are divided between
The civil service - also, confusingly, known as the Scottish Government - has been reorganised into "directorates" which do not correspond closely to these briefs. Despite the nominal division of labour, policy in Scotland is still strongly influenced by Westminster. Economic development is the responsibility of the Scottish government, but individualised employability provisions currently being introduced by the Department for Work and Pensions have been done without engaging the Scottish Government. Although education has been independent throughout the history of the Union, Scotland now has a national curriculum directly comparable to the English system. In many instances, such as the introduction of civil partnerships, the Scottish Parliament has referred decisions to Westminster to legislate under the provisions of the "Sewel convention".
Local government Local government grew, in England and Wales, from the administration of the Poor Laws. When local services for health, social assistance and education were established during the 19th century, someone had to be responsible for their delivery; the powers were given to the Poor Law guardians, and subsequently this became the core of a reformed local government system. In Scotland, the local administration was more developed, being based on the police burghs, but many of the reforms in the 19th and 20th centuries were driven by English approaches. Local government lost many of its powers after the war - including responsibility for health, social security and public utilities - and has progressively declined in influence since. The structure of local government was reformed in the 1970s, to form two main tiers (county and district) in most of Britain; in 1996 local government was focused in a single administrative tier, though some two-tier authorities have been retained. The UK has a highly centralised system of government, and the powers of local government are very limited. Central government exercises considerable controls over local action: they include
The main power local government has is one of conservative resistance, usually in the form of a failure to put central government policies immediately into effect. The Poor Law British social policy was dominated by the Poor Laws, first passed in 1598 and continuing till 1948. The Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 provided for
The parish was the basic unit of administration. There was, however, no general mechanism through which this could be enforced, and the Poor Law's operation was inconsistent between areas. The changes of the industrial revolution led to the development of the towns, rapid population growth, and the first experience of modern unemployment and the trade cycle. All this caused increasing poor rates. The Poor Law Commission of 1834 emphasised two principles:
The Poor Laws were much hated, and much of the development of social services in the 20th century - including national insurance, means tests and health care - were framed to avoid having to rely on them. Date: 2015-12-18; view: 1030
|