ABSTRACT
Superior wealth, and its attributes, such as housing, food, leisure pursuits and so on, is an obvious example, but superior health, superior education and even superior obedience to the law may also be traced. The poorest in England now are richer than their ancestors a hundred years ago and richer than their counterparts in other parts of the world. It is worth clarifying that point, for many people carry in their heads a kind of minimal concept of poverty or crime or ill-health. The users of the health, legal, welfare and education services do not have much control either. There are local education committees and there are boards of managers or governors for schools, but their powers are limited by central statute. The possibility that social issues, such as education, could be resolved by community or popular redress, must be seen as a modification within an existing framework, rather, than a complete overhaul of the framework.
