Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905-09
Encyclopedia
The Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905-09 was a body set up by the British Parliament in order to investigate how the Poor Law
system should be changed. The commission included Poor Law guardians, members of the Charity Organisation Society, members of local government boards as well as the social researchers Charles Booth
and Beatrice Webb
.
The Commission spent four years investigating and eventually produced two conflicting reports known as the Majority Report
and the Minority Report
. As the basis of the two reports was in such contrast the Liberal Party were able to ignore both when implementing their Liberal reforms
package.
The commission was set up by an outgoing Conservative government and was chaired by Lord George Hamilton
. The scale of the enquiry was considerable with huge volumes of documentary evidence collected. Although the two reports produced came from opposing political ideologies, there was some common ground between them. Namely, a consensus that the Poor Law should not continue in its current form, a desire to standardise provision and a recognition of structural failure as an element of the problem of involuntary poverty.
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
system should be changed. The commission included Poor Law guardians, members of the Charity Organisation Society, members of local government boards as well as the social researchers Charles Booth
Charles Booth (philanthropist)
Charles Booth was an English philanthropist and social researcher. He is most famed for his innovative work on documenting working class life in London at the end of the 19th century, work that along with that of Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree influenced government intervention against poverty in the...
and Beatrice Webb
Beatrice Webb
Martha Beatrice Webb, Lady Passfield was an English sociologist, economist, socialist and social reformer. Although her husband became Baron Passfield in 1929, she refused to be known as Lady Passfield...
.
The Commission spent four years investigating and eventually produced two conflicting reports known as the Majority Report
Majority report (Poor Law)
The Majority report was a report published by the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws published in 1909. The Royal Commission on the Poor Laws was a group set up to work out the best way to relieve the poor...
and the Minority Report
Minority report (Poor Law)
The Minority report was one of two reports published by the Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws 1905-09, the other being Majority report. Headed by the Fabian socialist Beatrice Webb, it called for a system that was radically different from the existing Poor Law...
. As the basis of the two reports was in such contrast the Liberal Party were able to ignore both when implementing their Liberal reforms
Liberal reforms
The Liberal welfare reforms were acts of social legislation passed by the British Liberal Party after the 1906 General Election. It has been argued that this legislation shows the emergence of the modern welfare state in the UK. They shifted their outlook from a laissez-faire system to a more...
package.
The commission was set up by an outgoing Conservative government and was chaired by Lord George Hamilton
Lord George Hamilton
Lord George Francis Hamilton GCSI, PC, JP was a British Conservative Party politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Background:...
. The scale of the enquiry was considerable with huge volumes of documentary evidence collected. Although the two reports produced came from opposing political ideologies, there was some common ground between them. Namely, a consensus that the Poor Law should not continue in its current form, a desire to standardise provision and a recognition of structural failure as an element of the problem of involuntary poverty.