Minding the business interest: The CBI and social policy, 1980–1996

Abstract

Explanations documenting the development of UK social policy have been wide ranging in every way, barring one: no thorough‐going explanation of the role of capital in the formation of welfare policy has yet been attempted. This paper is part of a broader study that attempts to bridge such gaps in current research. It does this by focusing on the Confederation of British Industry, the UK's largest employers' organisation, and its interest in and influence over social policy formation and delivery. Whilst previous studies on the CBI have revealed a largely ineffectual organisation, this study indicates growing influence in the area of broad social policy, based on changes in the opportunities for influence by central government and changes within the organisation itself. It also unveiled, however, a limited interest in certain social policy areas within the CBI. The subject of the paper is not a theoretical analysis of business power, but an attempt to provide a snapshot of business thinking and the potential influence of business over social policy formation and delivery over the 1980s, albeit on only one section of business. In doing this it provides a useful grounding on which future analysis can be built.