Statute Law Repeals - Law Commission - Ministry of Justice

PART 8
POOR RELIEF
INTRODUCTION
8.1 The Acts proposed for repeal in this part relate to the poor relief arrangements
that existed before the advent of the modern welfare state. Indeed most of them
are relics of the “old poor law” as it operated throughout England and Wales. 1
They were passed to provide for the needs of the local poor, particularly by
providing the necessary powers to raise money from the residents of a parish to
build workhouses or houses of industry to contain the poor and elderly of that
parish. 2
8.2 The abolition of parish-run poor law by the Local Government Act 1929 and the
abolition of the existing poor law system itself by the National Assistance Act
1948 has made nearly all of the poor law legislation dating back to the 17 th
century unnecessary. 3 The Acts now proposed for repeal have long ceased to
serve any useful purpose and their repeal is proposed on that basis. The
individuals and organisations consulted about these proposals are set out in
Appendix 3.
1 By “old poor law” is meant the parish-based poor law relief arrangements that existed
before the implementation of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will.4 c.76). The
origins of the old poor law can be traced to enactments passed in 1597 (39 Eliz.1 c.3) and
1601 (43 Eliz.1 c.2). The 1834 Act established a new poor law system. It divided the
15,000 or so parishes of England and Wales into new administrative units called “Poor Law
Unions”, each run by a locally elected Board of Guardians. The funding of each Union and
its workhouses continued to be provided by the local poor rate within each parish. The
workhouse system continued until well into the 20 th century, with the terminology changing
so that workhouses became known as “poor law institutions”. It was only on 1 April 1930
when the Local Government Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo.5 c.17) came into force, that Boards of
Guardians and Poor Law Unions were abolished, their functions being transferred to local
government.
2 Although people needing assistance from the parish were generally categorised as “the
poor”, poverty was not the only issue. Old age, illness, disability and unemployment were
other issues. Moreover, the workhouse was not the only form of relief available from the
parish. Assistance often took the form of “out relief” – that is, money, food or medical
assistance provided while people continued to live in their own homes. Equally they might
have been treated for illness in the workhouse infirmary or in the county lunatic asylum.
Children of poor parents were brought up and educated in Poor Law schools and, in due
course, apprenticed or placed in service.
3 The finance for providing the income and other support previously provided by the parish is
today drawn either from central funds provided by central government or raised by local
government from local taxation. The funding by local government of “poor-law type”
assistance (for example, the provision of social services functions such as accommodation
for elderly or disabled persons) derives not from parish rates but from the modern system
of non-domestic rating and council tax established under the Local Government Finance
Acts 1988 and 1992.
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