UK Government Scraps Social Mobility Commission, Establishes New 'Class Unit'

The United Kingdom government is set to dissolve its advisory body on social mobility, the Social Mobility Commission (SMC), and replace it with a new internal unit focused on improving life opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson stated that this move will consolidate government efforts to address socio-economic inequality by bringing them "in-house."

The decision to abolish the SMC, which was responsible for advising ministers on tackling inequality in England, is part of broader efforts to reduce the number of arm's-length bodies in Whitehall. Phillipson argued that this change will shift resources from "oversight to direct delivery" of the government's objectives.

"This decision marks a pivotal step in embedding a focus on socio-economic inequality into the heart of government," Phillipson said in a statement. She further commented that there had been a "squeamishness in talking about class" and that it was a significant area previously missing from policy formation.

The Social Mobility Commission was previously known as the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission before being renamed in 2016 by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, which also abolished legally binding child poverty targets. Since then, its remit has been to promote social mobility in England and advise ministers, in addition to publishing an annual report.

However, the outgoing chair of the commission, Alun Francis, expressed criticism of the decision. Francis noted that "class was a messy concept around which to organise policy" and that the name of the proposed new unit posed "obvious problems of definition." He also suggested that equating being working class with being disadvantaged "risks being deeply patronising."

Francis, who became the commission's permanent chair in 2023, accused ministers of not engaging with the body regarding its future plans and stated he had seen "no detailed plan" for how the new unit would be assessed. He also contested a government press release that claimed the commission's work had not directly informed government policy since 2016, arguing it had influenced plans for clean energy jobs and the "devolution agenda."