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The Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905–1909 was a body set up by the British Parliament in order to investigate how the Poor Law system should be changed. The commission included Poor Law Guardians, members of the Charity Organisation Society, members of local government boards as well as the social researchers Charles Booth and Beatrice Webb.

The Commission spent four years investigating and eventually produced two conflicting reports known as the Majority Report and the Minority Report. As the basis of the two reports was in such contrast the Liberal Party were able to ignore both when implementing their Liberal reforms package.

The commission was set up by an outgoing Conservative government and was chaired by Lord George Hamilton. The scale of the enquiry was considerable with huge volumes of documentary evidence collected. Although the two reports produced came from opposing political ideologies, there was some common ground between them: namely, a consensus that the Poor Law should not continue in its current form, a desire to standardise provision, and a recognition of structural failure as an element of the problem of involuntary poverty.

See also

• Minority report (Poor Law)
• Majority report (Poor Law)

References

1. ^ Englander, D., Poverty and Poor Law Reform in 19th Century Britain, 1834–1914, (1998)

v t e Poor laws of the British Isles
Poor laws by territory	England and Wales Scotland Ireland Isle of Man	Nantwich workhouse
Old Poor Law	Vagabonds and Beggars Act 1494 Tudor poor laws Poor Relief Act 1597 Poor Relief Act 1601 Poor Relief Act 1662 Relief of the Poor Act 1696 Poor Relief Act 1722 Relief of the Poor Act 1782 House of correction Overseer of the poor Poor rate Poor relief Buttock mail
Relief systems	Outdoor relief Speenhamland Labour Rate Roundsman Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor
New Poor Law	Royal commission (1832) Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845 Less eligibility Workhouse Workhouse test Board of guardians Outdoor Labour Test Order Outdoor Relief Prohibitory Order Poor law unions Opposition Book of Murder Scottish poorhouse
Changes after 1834	Poor Law Commission Poor Law Board Local Government Board Andover workhouse scandal Huddersfield workhouse scandal Union Chargeability Act
Decline and abolition	Liberal welfare reforms Royal Commission (1905–09) Majority Report Minority Report Interwar poverty National Assistance Act 1948
Other	Christmas Day in the Workhouse Historiography of the Poor Laws Timeline of the English poor law system Poor Relief Act List of poor law unions in England List of poor law unions in Wales List of Irish poor law unions

• Poor Law in Britain and Ireland
• 1900s in the United Kingdom
• British Royal Commissions
• 1905 establishments in the United Kingdom