Welfare and Benefits Flashcards
(9 cards)
The Welfare State Foundation
- Definition: An essential plank of the modern state, alongside the NHS, benefits system, and old age pensions.
- Goal: State should provide for the poor and stop them from falling into destitution.
- Foundation: Laid by the reforming Liberal government of 1906, introducing old age pensions (1908) and National Insurance (1911).
- Principle: Based on the contributory principle – you pay in when young, well, and working, and draw on benefits when old, sick, or unemployed.
Types of Welfare Benefits
Contributory Benefits: Paid based on previous contributions, like National Insurance payments. Example: State pensions.
* Non-Contributory Benefits: Paid based on need, not contributions.
- Means-tested Benefits: Paid dependent on income and savings; require a ‘means test’. Example: Universal Credit.
- Universal Benefits: Paid regardless of income. Now rare; some previously universal benefits (like child benefit and winter fuel allowance) are now means tested.
Universal Credit (UC)
Origin: Introduced by the Welfare Reform Act 2012.
* Aim: To simplify benefits and remove disincentives to work by allowing claimants to retain more benefit as they move into employment.
* Structure: Paid monthly.
* Eligibility: Over 18, under state pension age, savings less than £16,000.
* Replaced: Six working age benefits:
Means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance,
Employment and Support Allowance,
Income Support,
Child Tax Credits,
Working Tax Credits,
and Housing Benefit (rent element).
Benefit Caps and Rules
Benefits Cap: Introduced by the Welfare Reform Act 2012.
- Limits the total amount of benefits a household can claim so they don’t get more than the average working family.
- Capped at £22,020 a year outside Greater London; £25,323 in Greater London.
* Two Child Rule: Limits Child Tax Credit (and the child element of Universal Credit) to the first two children from April 2017. This policy has been continued by the current Labour government. Exemptions exist for adopted children, multiple births, and non-consensual conception (“rape clause”).
* Bedroom Tax (Spare Room Subsidy): A controversial policy reducing Housing Benefit for social housing tenants with spare bedrooms. Idea is to free up larger properties. Housing Benefit is reduced by 14% for one spare bedroom and 25% for two.
Cost and Criticisms of Welfare
Cost:
Expensive; Social Protection (pensions and benefits) is the largest item of public expenditure, predicted at £316 billion in 2025-26. State pensions are the biggest single cost. Costs are rising due to an ageing population and increasing life expectancy.
Criticisms:
- Can be seen as more than a temporary safety net, with some remaining on benefits long term.
- Arguments that benefits without conditions disincentivize work and trap people in poverty.
- Claimants face high marginal tax rates (lost benefits + taxes + work costs) when entering employment.
- Complex system can increase dependency.
- Increasing numbers of long-term sick due to mental health issues and access difficulties.
- Recent Labour Policies: Include restrictions on winter fuel payments, confirming the two-child limit, cuts to disability benefits (£4.8 billion), and a 50% cut to the health element of UC, drawing criticism and protests.
Children and Adult Social Services - Overview
Cost:
Expensive; Social Protection (pensions and benefits) is the largest item of public expenditure, predicted at £316 billion in 2025-26. State pensions are the biggest single cost. Costs are rising due to an ageing population and increasing life expectancy.
Criticisms:
◦ Can be seen as more than a temporary safety net, with some remaining on benefits long term.
◦ Arguments that benefits without conditions disincentivize work and trap people in poverty.
◦ Claimants face high marginal tax rates (lost benefits + taxes + work costs) when entering employment.
◦ Complex system can increase dependency.
◦ Increasing numbers of long-term sick due to mental health issues and access difficulties.
*Recent Labour Policies: Include restrictions on winter fuel payments, confirming the two-child limit, cuts to disability benefits (£4.8 billion), and a 50% cut to the health element of UC, drawing criticism and protests.
Children’s Social Services and Child Protection
Role: Social services are an essential part of the modern welfare state.
Scope: Includes child protection, domestic and residential care for elderly and disabled, and mental health care.
Provision: Provided by local councils.
Funding Types:
Statutory Spending: Services local authorities must provide by law, such as child protection.
Discretionary Spending: Additional spending not legally required; much has been cut due to austerity.
Usage: Used by an estimated 1.5% of the population, rising significantly for those aged 85 and over (11.8%).
Children’s Social Services and Child Protection
- Responsibility: Local authorities (county councils, unitary authorities, London boroughs) have a statutory obligation to protect vulnerable children. This is a key responsibility of County Councils in two-tier authorities.
- Criticism: Social workers are criticised for intervening too early or too late.
- Reform: Following the Victoria Climbie case, the Lord Laming enquiry led to the Every Child Matters Green Paper and the 2004 Children’s Act.
- 2004 Act Impact: Reorganised LA Social Services into Children’s Services Departments (including social care and education). Created Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards (LSCB) to coordinate agencies (social work, police, education, NHS) and encourage early intervention. Introduced individual Child Protection Plans. Established the role of the Children’s Commissioner.
Social Worker Interventions:
Care Orders: Court order transferring parental responsibility to the local authority.
- Interim Care Order/Emergency Protection
Order: Urgent court orders for cases of likely considerable harm; last 8-15 days.
Supervision Order: Child remains with parent but LA advises/assists; can convert to a Care Order.
Care for Children Removed: Provided by the local authority: in Children’s homes (inspected by Ofsted), through Fostering (temporary family care), or Adoption (permanent). A national shortage of foster parents exists.
- Rotherham Scandal: A major failure where SY Police and Rotherham social services knew of widespread child abuse but did nothing. Led to commissioners taking over the council.
Adult Social Care
Responsibility: Local authorities are responsible for providing domestic and residential care for elderly and disabled people. This is a key responsibility of County Councils in two-tier authorities.
* Assessment: Local authorities must assess an individual’s needs.
* Services: Include home helps, hot meals, day centres, and luncheon clubs.
Funding & Costs:
◦ Councils can charge for some services based on client income/savings. Adult social care is means-tested.
◦ Anyone with more than £23,250 in savings (including their main home) has to pay for their own care.
◦ Many elderly people are forced to sell their homes to pay for care.
◦ Long term care can be very expensive (£5000-£6000 a month). About half of those needing it pay their own fees.
* Regulation: Council-run and private care homes are regulated and inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). CQC carries out inspections and issues reports.
Issues:
◦ Provided by cash-strapped local councils, not the NHS.
◦ The savings threshold means many have to pay, potentially losing their homes.
◦ Long term care costs are high.
◦ Estimated 83% of care homes are privately owned.
◦Successive governments have not enacted significant reforms.
◦ The current situation is described as “untenable”.
◦ Lack of adult social care capacity contributes to delays in discharging elderly patients from hospitals. This is a major financial pressure for councils.
