The Labour Party and Social Services

Abstract

LABOUR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT restore it to health. The labour movement, as I have tried to show, has a profound need of a vigorous democratic life at the local level, both as an end in itself, and in order to remedy the twin evils of centralization and bureaucracy. Without a prompt and effective recognition of this truth, the urge towards an enhanced spirit of community, a greater sense of fraternity, freedom, and equality, on which the Labour Party was nourished in its earlier days, will never find expression.In the past we had a right to feel proud of our achievements m the realm of local government. The present state of local government is one of which it is difficult not to feel ashamed. All parties must share the responsibility for what has happened. But the Labour Party has a special duty to consider how and why it came 'to embark on the destructive courses of the post-war years, and toaretrace its steps to the greater wisdom of its earlier beliefs.

The policy of permeation of Fabian Society into the National Health Service policy of Labour Party in the early 20th century

“…This is exemplified by all the different health services that the state and municipal governments have controlled and managed. On April 22,1922, the medical journal The Lancet published an article entitled Labour Scheme for A Hospital Service [18] . The article describes the practical steps taken by Labour towards an ideal solution in the national health service, namely the establishment of a jointly managed health system.…”

“…The article first stresses that since it is not possible to increase the national medical and health necessary hospital accommodation funds through voluntary contributions from citizens, it is not even possible to maintain the existing accommodation funds without financial difficulties, therefore, the state in the field of public health services must use public funds to address the financial difficulties of social welfare in this field. The principle of using public money has actually been applied recently in Barry, Willesden and in the Bradford [18] . And these public funds are mainly devoted to the united services of the health system.…”

“…In a 1922 article, Labour proposed the establishment of voluntary hospitals and promoted co-operation and friendly competition with poverty-law-led medical institutions and municipal hospitals. On this basis, the existing systematic and organized public hospital services in voluntary hospitals are the basis for public authorities to obtain the necessary hospital accommodation to use the existing health services, and to build a complete service on this basis step by step [18] .…”

“…By establishing a co-managed health system, labour combined some of Fabian's administrative measures with Labour's own idea of nationalisation, with voluntary hospitals including some patients and providing simple medical services, thus relieving the pressure of other level hospitals. With the gradual establishment and improvement of general hospitals and voluntary hospitals, sanatoriums have been gradually established [18] .…”

When economic theory meets policy: Barbara Wootton and the creation of the British welfare state

“…She acknowledged that the purpose of a comprehensive social security system is to provide protection on a prescribed minimum level against certain contingencies (Wootton 1944(Wootton , 1953 rather than a utopian change, and also claimed the plan still had many questions still untouched. For instance:…”