BEVERIDGE PLAN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 40, 18 February 1943, Page 4

BEVERIDGE PLAN

GOVERNMENT’S VIEWS ACCEPTANCE IN PRINCIPLE, WITH RESERVATIONS j (Recd. 6.5 p.m.) Rugby, Feb. 16. Sir John Anderson announced in the House of Commons that the general lines of the development of social services laid down in the Beveridge report were those the Government wished to folio*,-, but all the main features did not commend themselves equally. He emphasised that the Government's study of the report was by no means complete, and that the Government was not ready to make a final pronouncement. Any provisional conclusion would be subject to reconsideration in the light of the debate.

Illustrating the formidable expenditure inevitably involved in any such scheme, Sir John Anderson said the charge on taxpayers for the provisions of social insurance and allied services would, by the 20th year, have grown by £168,000,000 compared with the first year of the operation of the plan, and even then it would by no means be at its peak. Obviously no one couldpronounce now with certainty of the financial position at. the end of the war and estimates framed now might not prove well-founded. What the Government must do now was to seei whether any steps by way of preparation could reasonably be taken with-, out interference with the war effort.] The tasks and the problems of the future must, however, be faced confi--dently and courageously. "The Government, therefore, says, let us not be deterred by doubt as to finance from putting plans into’ shape,” added Sir John. "Apart from] social insurance, which must take 1 high priority, there are education, agriculture, housing, roading, forestry,] and colonial development. Work is proceeding on all these, but it must be months before the Government can be ready. In social insurance there is a vast amount of detail which must be sifted. In the meantime there can be no commitments and nothing will be lost by the inevitable delay." Sir John added that a scheme wouldbe worked out as rapidly as possible, and Parliament would have to take decisions at the light of the fullest available information of the financialsituation. He explained that although once the plan as a whole was adopted, it could be brought into operation by stages. Nevertheless, various parts oC the scheme, apart from the fundamental assumptions on which it was based, hung together and it was fromj that point of view the Government was considering it. “After international security, which) in the Government's view must be the first of our peace aids, there must come the establishment of our national economy on a sound basts, with export trade in a healthy condition and employment continuously maintained at the highest nossible level." Sir John continued. “This must be done. The question arises whether this basic assumption as to the maintenance of employment which underlies the scheme—it is. the bedrock on which: the finance of the plan has been developed—should not be investigated and placed beyond reasonable doubt before the plan can be adopted. This would be a prudent course if there is reason to expect that such an investigation would reach conclusions upon which practical reliance could be placed, but unfortunately there is no reason to expect such a result. It seems to the Government that the aceptance or reorganisation of this basic assumption must attend not upon a prior demonstration of its validity, but whether it is considered not merely by the Government but alt concerned as something we all intend and strain every nerve to achieve."

The Government had also accepted in principle two other basic assumptions—a comprehensive medical service and a system of children’s allowances. In connection with the proposed comprehensive health service, Sir John Anderson stressed that the Government had no intention of forcing new services on those who preferred private arrangements for medical attendance or hospital treatment. Before the report was received ths Government had come to the conclusion that the most effective service was to give benefits to children and had developed a scheme for meals at schools, said Sir John. The Government saw no difficulty in providing services to children equivalent to half-a-crown a week, compared with tho shilling suggested by Sir William Beveridge. The Government had decided that a cash allowance for a second child and others would bs ss, not 8s as recommended in the report. The Government thought that sickness and unemployment rates should be the same, and it would be possible to fix rates not widely different from the report. Both should be of limited duration. Old age pensions presented difficulties because of the cost involved. Sickness and unemployment benefits were mostly paid for as they I went along. The pension benefit would not be fully available for 20 years, and the Government considered the contribution should be fixed now. If Parliament later decided to increase the pension contributions th® matter could be reconsidered. A. funeral grant should be one of the benefits under the scheme.

Sir John Anderson also dealt with tile transitional stage In the pensions scheme which would be necessary because of voluntary scheme* in existence. He could not contemplate the passing of such societies without regret. The question of administration would have to be decided when the scheme was approved. The intention was that it should be under a Minister without portfolio.