ABSTRACT
THE National Assistance Act, 1948 (hereafter referred to as the 1948 Act) made it the duty of the National Assistance Board ‘to assist persons in Great Britain who are without resources to meet their requirements, or whose resources (including benefits receivable under the National Insurance Acts) must be supplemented in order to meet their requirements’. This general duty of the Board was qualified in three respects. Applications for assistance from persons below the age of sixteen must not be accepted because, as minors, their requirements should be examined as part of the circumstances of the older persons on whom they are dependent or if they have no parent or guardian they should be referred to the Children's Department of the local authority. Second, in ordinary circumstances, assistance cannot be granted to people who are in full-time work or to their dependents. Third, assistance cannot be given to people on strike though it can be given towards the needs of their dependents. To counteract these three restrictions, the Act contains an escape section which gives power to the Board's officers to grant assistance in urgent cases in spite of all other considerations. The Ministry of Social Security Act, 1966, made no changes to these basic principles of national assistance.
