Effectiveness of Labour Reforms from 1945-1951

Question 1

Introduction

Answer 1

• BK: The Labour Party was elected into government in 1945, after WW2 a more collectivist attitude with a growing feeling of consensus and community was emerging
• BK: Labour passes social and economic reform in order to care for British Citizens ‘from the cradle to the grave’.
• Factors: In 1942 William Beveridge published a report identifying the 5 things the government would need to do to make Britain better, this essay will discuss 4 of these ‘giants’: Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness.
• LOA: This essay will argue that the Labour reforms were effective to some extent at dealing with the 5 giants, however they had some key failures

Question 2

Disease

Answer 2

• KU: NHS formed in 1948, it was comprehensive, free access to doctors, dentists, opticians and hospitals
• KU: Paid for by taxes, but was free at point of service for anyone who needed it
• A: The number of prescriptions per month went up from 7 million to 13 million by September 1948
• A+: Many hospitals were outdated and struggled to cope with the increased demand for healthcare
• E: Millions had access to healthcare they couldn’t afford beforehand, however it cost the government £358 million by 1950 ,and they had to introduce charges for glasses and dental treatment

Question 2

Ignorance

Answer 2

• KU: Butler Education Act (1944) built new schools, trained new teachers and increased the leaving age to 15.
• KU: An 11+ exam determined whether students would progress to academic or technical skills schools
• A: By 1951, 400,000 new teachers had been trained
• A+: By 1950, 1,116 new schools were built, however 928 were primaries, leading to a shortage of secondary schools
• E: Effective to some extent, more educated adults were contributing to society in the years after, however the new system was biased towards middle class children and socially divisive.

Question 3

Squalor

Answer 3

• KU: New Towns Act 1947 aimed to build 12 new communities, examples of these are Glenrothes and East Kilbride in Scotland
• KU: These new towns had shops, schools, and houses with electricity, separate kitchens and bedrooms and indoor bathrooms.
• A: From 1947-1951, over 1 million new homes were built
• A+: In 1951, homelessness was at the same level that it was in 1931 following the great depression
• E: Successful to some extent as it reduced overcrowding in cities like Glasgow, however in the 1951 census there were 750,000 less houses than households.

Question 4

Idleness

Answer 4

• KU: The government wanted to achieve full employment in Britain, or 3% unemployment. They did this by Nationalisation
• KU: Unprofitable industries were subsedised, for example the Bank of England and the Coal Board,
• A: Unemployment levels went down from 22% to 2.5%
• A+: Some nationalised industries such as the Coal Board were ineffective
• E: Nationalisation scheme was successful to some extent, but it may not have worked if Britain was not also receiving grants from America