The Minority report was one of two reports published by the

Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905–1909 The Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905–1909 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 Char ...

, the other being Majority report. Headed by the

Fabian socialist The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term ''collective bargaining''. She ...

, it called for a system that was radically different from the existing

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

. She, amongst the others heading the report, who included

George Lansbury George Lansbury (22 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician and social reformer who led the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Apart from a brief period of ministerial office during the Labour government of 1929–31, he spent ...

, felt that it was shortsighted of society to expect paupers to be entirely accountable for themselves.

Contribution of Sidney and Beatrice Webb

The Minority Report to the Commission was among the most famous of the Webbs' outputs. (

Sidney Webb Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, who co-founded the London School of Economics. He was an early member of the Fabian Society in 1884, joining, like Geo ...

was not a member of the Commission, but the Minority Report was a co-production). Beatrice Webb wrote that its purpose was "to secure a national minimum of civilised life ... open to all alike, of both sexes and all classes, by which we meant sufficient nourishment and training when young, a living wage when able-bodied, treatment when sick, and modest but secure livelihood when disabled or aged". Historian Jose Harris, the biographer of

William Beveridge William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 194 ...

, has written that "in historical accounts of modern social policy, the Royal Commission – and in particular its famous Minority Report – has often been closely twinned with the Beveridge Plan of 1942 as one of the two most seminal public enquiries into the working of British social policy over the last hundred years", noting that the Minority Report has often been cited as one of the first descriptions of a modern welfare state.

worked as a researcher for the Webbs on the Minority Report, on the issue of employment exchanges and was to write in his memoirs that "the Beveridge Report stemmed from what all of us had imbibed from the Webbs".

Arguments compared with the Majority Report

The central arguments between

Helen Bosanquet Helen Bosanquet (''née'' Dendy; 10 February 1860 – 7 April 1925) was an English social theorist, social reformer, and economist concerned with poverty, social policy, working-class life, and modern social work practices. Helen worked closely ...

of the

Charity Organisation Society The Charity Organisation Societies were founded in England in 1869 following the ' Goschen Minute' that sought to severely restrict outdoor relief distributed by the Poor Law Guardians. In the early 1870s a handful of local societies were formed w ...

and Beatrice Webb – who led the intellectual arguments for majority and minority respectively – have resonated across later debates about poverty and welfare. Webb called for a structural understanding of the causes of poverty – against were a majority but not a clear majority (

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

) who feared that this would underplay individual responsibility – and she argued that collective responsibility to prevent poverty required a much greater public role for the state in guaranteeing a basic minimum, while Bosanquet argued that charity-led provision would be undermined by the state. A ''Guardian'' editorial in 2009, marking the centenary of the Minority Report, wrote that "the seed that was to grow into the welfare state was planted n the Minority Reportnbsp;... Workhouses lingered on in various forms and the poor law itself lasted until 1948 – but Beatrice had already written its obituary in 1909".

Legislative effects

These arguments were not successful in 1909. The divisions on the Commission saw the Liberal government ignore recommendations for reform from majority and minority. The Webbs sold 25,000 copies of a Fabian Society edition of the Minority Report.

Political effects

Politically, the experience of the Minority Report campaign proved important in moving the Webbs and other Fabians away from influencing the Liberal Party to focusing on building up the Labour Party. The fledgling parliamentary Labour Party proposed in a

private members bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

measures based on the Minority Report: few Liberals supported its measures, with

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

a prominent exception. The Webbs launched a campaign for the break-up of the Poor Law to mobilise public support. The campaign letter 'The Crusade' was a forerunner to the

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

, both edited by

Clifford Sharp Clifford Dyce Sharp (1883–1935) was a British journalist. He was the first editor of the ''New Statesman'' magazine from its foundation in 1913 until 1928; a left-wing magazine founded by Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other members of the social ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minority Report (Poor Law) Poor Law in Britain and Ireland 1909 in the United Kingdom