What Are Four Key Figures Who Influence Social Policy?

This essay will look at four key figures who have influenced social policy since its beginnings and the contribution they have made to its formation and development. It will also look at their roles as well as any social and political factors which may have influenced them. The provision of welfare often sparks debates, three of which will be explored in this piece of work along with the impacts the welfare state may have on different people in society.
Sir William Beveridge was pivotal in laying the foundations of what has over the years been shaped into the social policy that so many of us take for granted today. In the 1930s a depression which hit the United Kingdom resulted in unprecedented levels of poverty and squalor. Healthcare and financial support in times of need was only available to people who could afford to pay insurance to protect themselves.
In 1941 the government commissioned William Beveridge to look into ways in which the current social problems could be
With running costs of over £100 billion per year (Gainsbury, 2011), it is vital to find a way to reduce spending without compromising quality of care. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt claims that addressing the way in which foreigners ‘abuse’ the system will enable the NHS to remain sustainable (Newstatesman, 2013). The Department of Health estimate that NHS use by migrants and overseas visitors costs £2 billion a year (BBC News, 2013d).
In a bid to reduce this cost the coalition government have introduced plans to impose rigid restrictions on free access to healthcare on immigrants. Part of this will be a £200 annual levy charge on foreigners in order for them to gain access to the NHS (The Daily Telegraph). Professor J Meirion Thomas has attacked these plans, believing that it would encourage more ‘health tourists’ who would find the payment an enticing alternative to travel insurance (Mail Online,