Making Policy

What are the seven sources of where government policy comes from?

• PM’s conviction

• Manifesto pledge

• Deals with other parties

• Referendum results

• Crises and emergencies

• Public and media pressure

• Changing social attitudes

Give an example of a PM’s conviction policy

Thatcher’s belief in a ‘property-owning democracy’ drove the Right to Buy (Housing Act 1980) - allowed council tenant to buy their homes at large discounts

Give an example of crises and emergencies policy

Under the Covid-19 pandemic, the Conservatives paid up to 80% of the wages of furloughed workers, built Nightingale hospitals and passed the Coronavirus Act 2020

Give an example of changing social attitudes policy

The Conservatives followed the social change of progressive gay rights - same-sex marriage (2013) passed under Cameron with more Labour than Conservative votes

What are the stages of a policy cycle?

1. Agenda setting

2. Formulation

3. Collective agreement

4. Legislation

5. Implementation

6. Evaluation

What happens under the formulation stage of the policy cycle?

Details about what the policy means

• e.g. DfE & Treasury designing a model of VAT on school fees

What happens under the implementation stage of the policy cycle?

How will it be collected and when will it be put in place?

• e.g. HMRC collecting VAT & councils collecting the poll tax

What happens under the evaluation stage of the policy cycle?

• what are the expectations v reality of this policy?

• Is it lawful under the courts?

• E.g. Rwanda scheme ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court (2023)

What inhibits policy making?

• markets and money

• The governing party

• Other institutions

• Other countries

• Capacity and delivery

• Events

Describe Thatcher’s Poll tax case study

• a personal conviction to make every adult pay to make councils accountable i.e. poll tax

• Chancellor Lawson warned her it would be ‘politically catastrophic’ but she overrode him

• Policy went into 1987 manifesto

• Charge came in Scotland (1989) and England & Wales (1990) - many bills were much higher than expected

• 1990s mass demonstrations ended in the Trafalgar Square riot

• Thatcher won first ballot 204-152 (November 1990)

• Cabinet told her she could not win 2nd ballot and she withdrew on 22 November

• John Mayor abolished the poll tax

Describe Blair’s Iraq invasion case study

• Blair’s personal conviction to side with America led him to publishing a dossier that Iraq had WMD

• Feb. 2003 - Britain’s largest demonstration (+1M) against war

• France and Germany refused to join

• March 2003 - Blair put it to a vote and won 412 to 149; 139 Labour MPs voted for the revel amendment opposing war

• Butler report (2004) criticised the ‘informality’ of Blair’s decision making and ‘sofa government’

• 2005 - Blair won again but majority fell from 167 to 66

• Blair pressured by his own MPs to leave in 2007

Describe the Truss Mini-Budget case study

• Truss won Conservative leadership on members’ votes by promising tax cuts to drive growth

• Truss and Kwarteng sacked the Treasury’s permanent secretary and prepared the ‘Growth Plan’

• Sep. 2022 - Kwarteng announced ~45bn of unfunded tax cuts

• Markets reacted within hours - the pound fell to a record low against the dollar

  • Bank of England had to intervene in the gilt market to prevent a wider financial crisis

• Oct. 2022 - Truss sacked Kwarteng for carrying out the policy they designed together

• Truss resigned 20 Oct. - lasted 49 days