Social Policy Digest

Abstract

The Commission on Social Justice set up by the late John Smith presented its proposals for the reform of Britain's tax and benefit system in October (87—22/3—1.8). They included taxing child benefit for higher earners and abolishing married couples′ allowance, a minimum pension guarantee and a national minimum wage. A Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) paper on the relationship between private insurance and the state social security system concluded that state benefits must remain the major source of provision for benefits, and suggested that there is only limited scope for further development of private sector alternatives. Meanwhile the 1994 edition of social security statistics showed that 521,320 families received family credit at January 1994, an increase of 119,900 over 1993. In April 1994 there were approximately 540,000 recipients.