Social Mobility Commission must be given teeth, MPs urge

22 March 2018

The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) – an advisory body that reports on inequality in the UK – must be given greater powers, the House of Commons Education Committee has urged.

In their report The Future of the Social Mobility Commission, the MPs said the SMC should publish social justice impact assessments for government policies and advise ministers on how to promote social mobility.

Further, its name should be changed to the Social Justice Committee, and its organisational structure amended so that an independent body reporting on progress works in tandem with a parliamentary body that has the responsibility to effect change. The MPs added that a Minister in the Cabinet Office should be given ultimate responsibility for cross-government work on social mobility.

Following what was described as a “farcical” appointments process for new Commissioners, and the fact the SMC’s panel has been allowed to fall to just four members, the Committee also advised that there should be a minimum of seven Commissioners working for the SMC at all times in addition to the Chair.

Robert Halfon, Chair of the Education Committee, commented: “We need a Commission which has the teeth to undertake objective assessments of the implications for social justice of Government policies and is properly equipped to hold Ministers’ feet to the fire on social mobility … if we are to tackle the social crisis in our country, we must devote far greater energy and focus to the social justice agenda.”

Alongside their report, the Committee has published a draft Bill that would give effect to all of its recommendations.