thatcher's social policies Flashcards
how was the NHS reformed to become more efficient and financially disciplined
1) hospitals were allowed to control their own budgets
2) nhs services expected to compete with each other to be more efficient and cost effective
3) GPs managed their own budgets
why were the nhs reforms unpopular despite being improvements
critics believed that this was the first stage of privatising the nhs which was hated as it was founded as a public service
how did thatcher reform qualifications in education
1) replaced the CSE with the GCSE in 1986 which was open to pupils of all abilities
2) introduced a national curriculum in 1988 to test pupils at different stages of their education
why was their controversy surrounding the education reforms
some argued that GCSEs weren’t difficult enough and the standards were depleting
the content of the national curriculum caused disagreement
people said it was inconsistent, giving schools the right to control their budgets but deciding what they could teach
how did thatcher reform universities
she cut uni budgets in 1981 forcing them to seek other sources of revenue and accept more students
removed polytechnics - institutions specialising in vocational courses
retained grants for young people to attend uni (student loans)
why were the uni reforms controversial
some uni staff lost their jobs
a university funding council was established in 1988 to ensure uni education reflected the needs of the economy rather than exclusive research
how did thatcher reform council housing
created a ‘property owning democracy’ by giving people homes to rewards them for sharing values such as hard work, resilience and initiative.
the govt allowed long-term council tenants to buy their houses
why did thatchers govt invest so much into council housing
she believed that owning homes gave them a stake in the community and less likely to support socialism, in order to increase her amount of voters.
