Domestic Reforms
The minimum statutory entitlement for paid holidays was increased from 4.8 to 5.6 weeks per annum, while Child Benefit was disregarded in calculating income for Housing and Council Tax Benefit as a means of improving work incentives and the incomes of many low-income families. Regulations were implemented providing parents with children up to the age of 16 with the statutory right to request flexible working arrangements.
Extra penalties were introduced for employers paying under the national minimum wage, while the September Guarantee was extended to seventeen year-olds in 2008. The Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants Etc.) Act of 2010 created protection for unauthorised tenants. The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 granted new powers to tackle erosion and “underwrote a path to run round England’s coastland,” while the Community Energy Saving Programme (2009) obliged energy suppliers and generators to deliver energy efficiency measures in certain low income areas.
Compulsory personal, social and health education was introduced in 2009, while the Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010 provided parents with the option of splitting between them “the year that the mother is currently able to take as maternity leave, giving them greater flexibility in their childcare arrangements.” An extension of 10–15 hours free nursery provision for disadvantaged 2-year olds was also carried out. Between 2008 and 2010, additional money was put into tax credits for families with children, while child poverty fell during Brown's last year as Prime Minister.
The Education and Skills Act 2008 introduced measures to extend educational opportunities such as the raising of the school leaving age to 18, while the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 introduced provisions such as a statutory framework for apprenticeships and a right to an apprenticeship for suitably qualified 16-18 year olds. The Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 created a new Homes and Communities Agency, with objectives such as improving the supply and quality of housing in England. The Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 entitled anyone in England who was disabled or past retirement age to free travel on local buses at off-peak times anywhere in the country. The Pensions Act 2007 and the Pensions Act 2008 introduced various improvements to pension provisions, while the Employment Act 2008 strengthened existing legislation regarding working conditions.
In the field of health care, Brown promised free cancer prescription medicines, which became available in January 2009, although concerns were raised in September that many patients entitled to such prescriptions were not benefiting from them. A Health in Pregnancy Grant was also introduced, which provided financial assistance to expectant mothers. In 2008, a Local Housing Allowance was introduced for people on low incomes or benefits renting from private landlords.
The Autism Act 2009 was passed with hopes that it would lead to improvements in services and support for adults with autism. The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 sought to improve the workplace rights of people working for employment agencies. The Equality Act 2010 required equal treatment in access to employment as well as private and public services. In addition, the Child Poverty Act 2010 set targets for governments to eliminate child poverty.
Read more about this topic: Premiership Of Gordon Brown
Famous quotes containing the words domestic and/or reforms:
“Our domestic problems are for the most part economic. We have our enormous debt to pay, and we are paying it. We have the high cost of government to diminish, and we are diminishing it. We have a heavy burden of taxation to reduce, and we are reducing it. But while remarkable progress has been made in these directions, the work is yet far from accomplished.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“One of the reforms to be carried out during the incoming administration is a change in our monetary and banking laws, so as to secure greater elasticity in the forms of currency available for trade and to prevent the limitations of law from operating to increase the embarrassment of a financial panic.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)