The National Assistance Board was established by the
National Assistance Act 1948 (
11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 29) and abolished in by the
Ministry of Social Security Act 1966. It was preceded by the
Unemployment Assistance Board (known from 1941 as the Assistance Board) and succeeded by the Supplementary Benefit Commission.
There was a separate National Assistance Board of Northern Ireland.
The National Assistance Act 1948 required local authorities, under the control of the board, to provide residential accommodation for older and disabled people ‘in need of care and attention which is not otherwise available to them’. They were also able to register and inspect homes run by charitable (non-profit) and private (for profit) organizations and to contribute to independent organisations providing ‘recreation or meals for old people’ or themselves provide these, or day centres, clubs etc.
Staff
Sir
Harold Fieldhouse was Secretary of the Board from 1948 until 1959 when he was succeeded by Sir
Donald Sargent. The Under-Secretary from 1946–1950 was
Hubert Bentliff.
Public depiction
In 1970 the Brighton Combination, of which
Jim Carter was a member presented ''The NAB Show'', a politically orientated account of the Board.
[Philip Roberts, ''The Royal Court Theatre, 1965–1972'' (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul plc, 1986), pp.128–129. Retrieved 6 November 2011 in books.google.com.]
Chairs
*
George Buchanan
George Buchanan (; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth-century Scotland produced." His ideology of re ...
1948–1953
*
Geoffrey Hutchinson MP 1954–1964
Other members
* William Asbury 1950–1961
*
Edwin Bayliss 1961–1967
* H. M. Hallsworth 1948–1949
*
Alice Johnston member of the
Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London
*
William Leonard 1955–1960
*
Mary McAlister 1961–1966
* George William Martin 1948–1956
*
Percy Morris 1960–1966
* Harry Pigott 1957–1966
References
{{reflist
Social security in the United Kingdom
1948 establishments in the United Kingdom