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Acts of Parliament that have led to change
1601 Poor Relief Act After many monasteries were closed by Henry VIII, Parliament introduced the Poor Relief Act in 1601 to support people who could not work. Later, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 encouraged the building of workhouses to try to address the problems caused by the industrial revolution. Old age pensions were introduced in 1905 and state-provided welfare expanded in the decades that followed. In 1942, the Beveridge report argued that the poor laws and other provision should be replaced with a comprehensive welfare state. Those changes, including the foundation of the NHS, were introduced by Parliament following the Second World War. Campaigns to reform the welfare and health and social care system continue.
1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade Act In the 18th century, a brutal trade network transported kidnapped Africans to European colonies in the Americas and Caribbean to work as slaves. In 1787, campaigners, including former slaves, boycotted slave- produced goods and petitioned Parliament. In Parliament, William Wilberforce led the campaign to abolish the trade. Eventually, the massive national campaign inside and outside Parliament led to Parliament banning the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807, with slaves finally being freed – with compensation for the slave owners, but not the slaves - in 1838. The 2015 Modern Slavery Act tries to ensure that our slavery laws are up to date and protect people from being exploited.
1833 Factory Act In the early years of the industrial revolution, thousands of children worked long hours in factories and mills in often dangerous conditions. Campaigns such as the ten-hour movement called for reform, but child labour laws were not enforced. That changed following the 1933 Factory Act which introduced inspectors to prevent the employment of children under nine years old and ensured the provision of some education. Workers groups and others campaigned inside and outside Parliament to extend laws about safety and working hours to adults in factories and mines. Workplaces that used to be very dangerous places, gradually became safer for employees. Employment and health and safety laws are still regularly changed to take account of new ways of working.
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1965 Race Relations Act In the 1950s, racial tensions surrounding the arrival of Commonwealth immigrants to the UK led to calls for legislation to protect their rights. Campaigns, such as the Bristol bus boycott, organised by Guy Bailey after he was refused a job interview because he was black, and MPs raising the experiences of their constituents in the House of Commons added to the pressure on Parliament to pass the Race Relations Act 1965. The law was extended in 1968 to criminalise discrimination in housing, training and education and in the provision of goods and services. By the 2010 Equality Act, the focus had moved to a duty to promote equality, as well as prosecute and prevent discrimination.
1967 Sexual Offences Act In 1957, the Government were shocked when the Wolfenden report recommended that homosexual relationships be decriminalised. After a campaign in Parliament, homosexuality was legalised in England and Wales in 1967 for men over 21 (the laws had not applied to women), but it remained illegal in Scotland and Northern Ireland until the 1980s. Over the next few decades, the UK Parliament changed more and more laws that had discriminated against gay people and introduced measures to ensure equal rights. Gay marriage became legal in most of the UK in 2014. Different rules in Northern Ireland mean that same-sex marriages are recognised as civil partnerships, but not marriage.
1995 Disability Discrimination Act For centuries, the state provided workhouses or asylums for disabled people. Disabled people formed campaign groups to fight for their rights, including better access to services and an end to employment discrimination. In 1970, Parliament passed the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act, which legislated for equal access to recreation and education facilities and said that local authorities had to provide care for people in their own homes, but it did not cover discrimination. It took a long campaign inside and outside Parliament before the first Disability Discrimination Act was passed in 1995, but many felt that it did not go far enough. It was strengthened in 2005 and replaced with the Equality Act in 2010. Disabled campaigners continue to push for equality and fair access.