Public Assistance and Community Care, 1948-2002
Local authorities had been the main provider of support to people in need under the poor law, which was abolished by the National Assistance Act 1948. [1] This act made central government, through a National Assistance Board, responsible for determining which individuals were in need. In conjunction with the National Insurance Act 1946, which introduced a welfare, health and unemployment support system, operated by central government, this meant that the role of local authorities was more limited.[2]
However, the National Assistance Act 1948 also placed responsibilities on local authorities to provide accommodation for people in need of care, temporary accommodation for homeless people, registration of residential homes for older people and people with disabilities and welfare facilities for people with various disabilities. This led to the development of local authority-provided residential care for older people, along with local authority support for meals on wheels and the regulation of other residential care by the local authority. It also enabled the development of local authority occupational therapy services and sheltered employment for people with disabilities and regulated voluntary sector provision.
The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 gave county councils and councils of large burghs a duty to promote social welfare and provide assistance to persons in need, including emergency assistance, home help and laundry facilities and registration of residential establishments; and to provide and maintain residential establishments, as well as inspect them, and appoint visitors in the interests of the well-being of the residents.[3]
In 1990 regional councils (which were made responsible for social work in 1975) were required to prepare a plan for community care services, to assess the needs of people for whom they had a duty of care and to ensure the provision of such care.[4] This applied to people with mental ill-health, learning disabilities, physical disabilities and elderly people in need of nursing care or support. The intention was to provide care in the community rather than in institutions and in general this fell to social work departments to provide equipment, staffing, resources and aids for supported living, emergency call-out care services for identified individuals. To begin with, the cost of this was partly covered by charges and partly by local authority funding. In 2002 charges for personal care were removed.[5]
Records relating to clients are covered by the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR and therefore are unlikely to be found in archives services. However, records relating to the general provision of public assistance and community care may be found in local authority committee minutes and some records of policies and procedures may survive. Records relating to central bodies such as the Scottish Council of Social Services and the Advisory Council on Social Work are held by the National Records of Scotland (reference code ED39), as are other relevant central government files on welfare, public assistance and social work.
Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)
References
[1] National Assistance Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo. VI c.29) ss.21, 29 & 37.
[2] National Insurance Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. VI c.67).
[3] Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 (c.49).
[4] National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c.19).
[5] Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 5).