Co‐ordination of Social Welfare
| Author | Alderman Lady Townsend |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1954.tb01722.x |
| Published date | 01 March 1954 |
| Date | 01 March 1954 |
Co-ord inat ion
of
Social Welfare
By ALDERMAN LADY
TOWNSEND,
J.P.
This paper
was
presented to the Annual Conference of the Association
of
Municipal Corporations, September,
1953,
and is reported here by kind
permission
of
the Secretary of the Association.
FTER
five years’ experience of the working of the social legislation which
A
came into operation in 1948,
it
seems an opportune moment to review
the situation and to consider how far the co-ordinated service which this
legislation aimed at producing has been achieved, particularly in the work
of
local authorities.
Social welfare is generally understood, but not often defined.
It
might
be said, however, that social welfare consists in promoting the well-being
of
the individual as a member of the community; and reading the titles
of
the various Acts one feels that some such general definition must have
been in the minds of those who drafted them.
These Acts, which now, directly
or
indirectly, affect the lives of
so
many people, came into operation simultaneously on 5th July, 1948. The
choice of a common operative date was deliberate, and aimed at bringing
into being a linked service designed to cover the main vicissitudes of daily
life
;
it was soon apparent, however, that some links in the chain were missing,
or were tenuously made.
The Act which has probably caused the greatest anxiety to local authorities
in its administration is the National Assistance Act, 1948. This Act abolished
the
existing Poor Law and substituted for it a service of financial aid and
accommodation for persons in need
;
a statutory welfare service for disabled,
sick, aged and other persons who, for one reason
or
another, were unable
to live their lives without some outside help
;
and various supplementary
services. These services were to be provided either by the central Govern-
ment, acting through the National Assistance Board, or by local authorities.
Under the old Poor Law, the local authority was solely responsible for
the administration of financial relief for the destitute and for the provision
of institutional accommodation for those who required it. The removal
of the first of these functions has resulted in a less fully co-ordinated service
than used to exist. Although it is true that the financial assistance available
is more generous than in the past, that the conditions attaching to its receipt
are more in accordance with the present-day outlook, and the so-called
stigma of being on poor relief has been removed, the fact that the relieving
officer
no
longer exists under any title is a retrogressive step. Under the
old
legislation, a person in need applied to the relieving officer, whose functions
cnablrd
him
to deal with the case according
to
all
its requirements. Where
financial assistance only
is
required, it may be no greater hardship for the
applicanr to approach the National Assistance Board than the relieving
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