To be worried?

[RollonBed]

New to mumsnet, just joined purely because its all i can think about. Love reading other threads though.

Ok, so the cap comes into place tomorrow 384 pound a week. Im a single psrent 2ith 4 children. How on earth an i expected to pay rent out of this and live? I will have to pay £104 pound rent a week! Thats 280 to buy food, petrol, gas, electric, water... yes i pay monthly for these but each week i make sure i set aside 50 pound... its said some 300,000 children will be pushed into poverty and people may loose there home over it. Im so worried i cant eat or sleep!! Should i be worried. aibu to think this is such an unecessary thing gor goverment to do?

No i may not. It wouldnt surprise me if tou didnt have a job atal. Goodnight mumsnet. Thank you to all the lovely tips advice esp to the ones who pm me. Ur wonderful people. To the rest of you. Well no words needed really.

I do work, but fail to see the relevance of the question?

Is this a wind up? Please feel free to PM me how you get that much. DH works 7 days a week and we have nowhere near that much money.

BusStopBetty - You've had the poor OP hanged, drawn and quartered on the basis of what? Oh yeah, you don't believe she can be real so that's that then is it? That gives you the right to treat someone as if they're worthless on a pathetic little hunch!

notangelina the OP gets that much because that is what the law states she is entitled to have for now. This is because she does not have a DH, working or otherwise and she has four children. There is no need for a PM, the information is freely available and if you have children under the age of five and are happy to bear ALL the responsibility and cost for them all by yourself there is nothing stopping you from doing the same. HTH.

Well this whipped up a frenzy then.

Baconandeggies, AwaywiththePixies, it's ridiculous to suggest OP could get her children into the nearest school if she just tried a bit. They are 4 and 5, therefore infant class size legislation applies. The school can't just decide to expand the class if someone asks nicely enough or pays a solicitor to push for an appeal.

OP, please contact the council's school transport department today. Assuming your children go to the nearest suitable school, and it is more than two miles away, they will be entitle to school transport. If you prefer not to send them in a taxi, you are entitled to claim payments on a mileage basis to cover your costs of taking them.

The school can't just decide to expand the class if someone asks nicely enough

Mine did.

The school can't just decide to expand the class if someone asks nicely enough

Mine did - not sure how exactly, but the LEA said no whilst the school said yes. Perhaps the capacity figures weren't up to date.. However, OP says she has already done everything she can go try to get the DCs into the nearby schools.

Haven't had time to read all through but I honestly can't believe the replies. 'I work but get less' and your point is? Should children live in poverty just to prove a point and make things ' fair'. Convenient that the definition of child poverty was changed by the government not long ago. These children aren't really people to the govt.
I have seven - yes seven- children. If my marriage broke down I could not afford to leave my husband on 384 a week. My rent would be 215 and assuming I can cut my bills down to 85 a week ( how??) That would leave me 84 a week to feed and clothe myself and my children on 10.50 a head each. Hardly luxury is it? Not everyone gets maintenance or lives in social housing. This cap will trap women in abusive relationships.

As a matter of law, for infant classes numbers cannot go above 30 other than within very tightly-defined exceptions. baconandeggies, if you were dealing with infant classes and the school agreed to take your child in circumstances where that would take them above 30 in the class, it broke the law. Don't assume that every other school will be prepared to do so.

No, it didn't take them over 30.

OP. You need to budget, it won't be forever. I'm on a meter for gas and leccy. Hardly put heating on, just extra layers. Rent is £380 all paid by housing benefit, food about £70 a week (1 adult 3 kids). Don't bother with Clarks or expensive shoe shops, Asda are good for shoes and uniforms. Shower when poss to save water and try to minimise clothes to cut back on washer and drier. And a huge well done for leaving the relationship!

In that event your situation never was comparable with OP's, bacon.

No - as the thread has gone on it has emerged of course that the situations aren't comparable.

However, OP stated originally simply that her children couldn't get into closer schools. There was no more detail than this.

It was at this point that I asked her whether she'd tried contacting the schools directly. OP in response then said she had made appeals and registered for waiting lists... and I acknowledged that she'd done everything she could on that score.

I was simply trying to help, but I'm not a mind reader

Your implication, intended or otherwise, was that OP could get her children into closer schools if she tried a bit harder. But the plain fact of the matter is that schools have to take anyone who applies if they have a vacancy, so it was reasonable to assume from the information given at the outset that the school was full; and, given the children's ages, that they really could not by law just squeeze another child in.

Without ripping into you, you do get enough money to live on..
Unfortunately I am one of those people who will tell you I earn less than you, because it's true.
Can you get a job? I work 16 hours MW and am much better of financially than I was before.
What did you do before you had children?

I think OP is missing the point that if you don't work, it should be a fucking struggle. No-one would work at all if that wasn't the case. Obviously. I hate my job so much I often cry on the way in, but I have no choice at the moment. And yes, I EARN much less than you are GIVEN every month.

No. I was not implying that OP hadn't tried hard enough. You may not put this on me.

I was simply wondering what enquiries OP had made, as she had not disclosed this.

I've only applied for primary schools once - so my sole experience is that we were allocated a place 6 miles away, despite there being schools closer to us. Upon querying this with the LEA they confirmed that there was no room in the other schools.

However when we double checked with the other schools they could all fit her in, as they weren't up to their 30 children and it seems most likely that they could extend their reported capacity.

As this is my sole experience of primary school places, I don't think it was unreasonable for me to mention this to the OP.

Why are you continuing this thread to accuse me of naivety? I was genuinely trying to be helpful - whilst other posters have actually been downright abusive?

Actually serendipity I suggested that the OP re-appeals if she can (late appeals are sometimes allowed if circumstances have changed in between time). No-one pays a solicitor to 'push for an appeal' they pay a solicitor for represent them at appeal. What with them knowing the education law better than lowly old me. Speaking of which, it's not about the 'expanding the class to fit them in'. Whilst you're right about the infant class sizes, as others have stated, it really does depend on which school. The PAN numbers and different admission policies. The LEA lost their argument with my DDs appeal as one, the ICS doesn't apply above once you get to year 3 (something for OP to think of in the near future if her DCs are still on a waiting list) and two, even to their own admission, it was a bit remiss of them to say "sorry we just haven't possibly got the room" whilst simultaneously admitting more pupils on the roll because of the extension being built. The LEA upheld that the school did everything by the book with regards to the regulations etc, but that the prejudice would have been far greater to DD than it would have been to the school had she been admitted.

OP. Try and ignore the bemoaners and take the good advice offered on this thread. Hope it all works out for you.

I always find it's odd that the single parent always gets a bashing on these sort of threads. After all, she's the parent that chose to stick around for her kids...

And yes I have read the thread and seen that he is in prison but my sentiment remains the same.

Now tut tut op. You should only ever have allowed a man to impregnate you if you had already saved up enough to pay for everything your children would require for 18 years+ univarsity. Ofcourse this only applies to you as a woman ; )

Fuck this thread is grim.

You are nbu. I am worried about the cap for so many reasons, and as I doubt they save the hugest amount from it i expect it's just a stepping stone to more, like every other cut back has been so far.

It does sound like you are somewhat more comfortable than some though. It's daunting budgeting and learning to cook cheaply if you havn't before especially in the middle of such a difficult patch. But there's great tips here and it sounds like you have considerable skills to fall back on when you are in a position to work again. Definitely push to find out if you can get some reinbursement for the school runs, free/second hand uniform etc. The great thing about little kids is they won't notice second hand clothes or toys. Don't fall into the trap of buying things out of guilt- you did nothing wrong and things won't help them. I know it's hard not to, my kids have disabilities & I know I guilt buy, but we are not struggling and if we were I would have to be tougher.

Do you have rl support? Is your hv any good? Do you have a local sure start centre or can you ask for a homestart volunteer to get someone who will support you while you settle into a new area? Have you tried the gingerbread chairty that supports single parents?

Nothing wrong with only working a set amount to maximise your benefits when you get to that stage, I only work a few hours so my carers allowance isn't taken away, & so I have a few children free school hours to volunteer and a few to do whatever the fuck I please. That's human.

Hi. Have you tried moneysavingexpert? They have loads of good tips and trackers and people who know how to squeeze every penny to make the most of it. As for all the people having a go at the op for not being psychic and knowing her circumstances would change, really? How can anyone know what life will bring and at least she is asking for help rather than struggling in silence.