What should be free but isn't

[mummyrabbitpeppapig]

I'll start. Sanitary protection and condoms.

I think most things to do with kids should be free or heavily subsidised. I am a higher rate tax payer btw and yes I do fully understand that these things would be paid for by taxation.

eg:
public transport - free for kids
school meals - free for all school children
genuinely local, walkable libraries in all communities. If not - free books for children. (I walked to the library alone when I was 7. If we're closing libraries and putting them all in the centres of big cities, 7 year olds can't do that.)
Stationery, art supplies, music lessons
Subsidised family cafes where children eat free or at a low cost price
Sports kit and sports clubs
All forms of education - including arts, music, drama, dance, sport - not just the narrow curriculum in schools

IKEA can put a kids meal on the menu for £1.15. If they can do that, we can, as a society, look after our kids a bit better and allow families a bit more time for family life

Sorry, just to add that it's odd to think water should be free.

ASTHMA DRUGS

*I was in hospital last month for 4 days after not being able to breathe and so was put on oxygen - is that not life threatening enough for the gov?

HOSPITAL PARKING especially when admitted to A&E
*

Water

Burials and cremations.

A Doctor's signature on a death certificate.

Divorce.

Some places do do free eye tests. But then what happens when they say you need glasses and you can't afford them?

In Pharmacies (in England) you CAN get free headlice treatment, Paracetamol, worm treatment, hay fever treatment etc.etc. etc - if you are entitled to free prescriptions, you can get it free without having to go see the doctor, thus costing the NHS less in the long term. Look up the NHS Minor Ailments Scheme.

you merely have to fill in a form and you get the best generic treatment - not necessarily brand leader.

I'm finding all the Water should be free comments rather amusing.

Maintaining water systems is bloody expensive, there's

• Looking after the open water sources...because stupid people try swimming in it and end up in terrible difficulties
• Maintaining the miles of pipes that transport water around the place
• Making the water fit to drink, that involves engineers and scientists

And that's just to get clean water to run from your taps.

Then there's the issue of sewerage. I think it's incredible that the water companies can take raw sewerage and make the water safe to re-enter the eco system. Far less gruesome than having a septic tank and probably more environmentally friendly given the chemicals used in septic tanks and the constant need for trucks to empty them and transport the contents to a processing plant.

Some water companies are also responsible for costal defences.

Water has never been safe to drink from rivers etc. This is why beer was invented!

Water is a commodity, it should be charged as one either indirectly through your council rates like Scotland or directly via rateable value or water meters.

If you want to live 'off grid' for your water best of luck to you you'll need it!

Some places do do free eye tests. But then what happens when they say you need glasses and you can't afford them?

You can get glasses for about £25 as long as you don't need varifocals or something unusual. Optical care can be far cheaper than dental care. Nobody needs designer glasses which cost a small fortune.

I think something somewhere was being attempted to tackle sanpro poverty amongst school age children? Will have to look up the article I read.

vestal virgin, you really, REALLY need to do some research before spouting nonsense all over the internet.

The same goes for all those who make it look like there's no drinkable water to be found in nature.

I may not have read thirty scientific studies on the matter, but I went on hiking trips and miraculously survived drinking from all those mountain springs that wild animals could theoretically poo in. Didn't even get diarrhea.

That one doesn't drink water that has dead animals in it should be obvious. That doesn't negate the fact that drinkable water can be found in nature, and would be found in nature in much larger quantities without human intervention.

... I have to amend my statement.

Clean water should be free.

Considering that in many places, the tap water is poisonous (and I don't mean bacteria that can be killed by boiling it poisonous, I mean chemical waste poisonous), THAT being for free wouldn't help much.

Maintaining water systems is bloody expensive, there's

So what?
Cancer treatment is also bloody expensive.

Something being paid for by the government via tax money encourages the government to make sure it is as cheap as possible to provide that service.

Which would give them an incentive to not give factories the right to put their chemical waste into the nearest river.

I thought about sport and extra curricular activity also, antigrinch. Some of the fees for those on low incomes make it inaccessible for those on low (or even average) incomes. I know there are schemes to help, but it's not enough.

It annoys me when people say prescription charges should be linked to income. For a start you can have a high income but lots of expenses. Income is not the only measure of wealth - it may all be taken up in childcare or travel costs or finamcing your kids through uni, for which those on 'high' incomes receive little state help.
Secondly, hight earners pay more tax. It is unfair to hammer them for additional payment. All medicine should be free.

I would like to see sanpro state subsidised - women don't choose to have periods and it is wrong yhat companies profit from this.

Vestal, by your logic, who should pay for the sewage that is pumped out into the rivers (if it were untreated)?

Dental check ups and eye tests are free in Scotland. You can use the minor ailments service to get head lice and worming treatments.

Own brand suncream is cheap and sometimes even better than branded so don't think it should be free

Deodorant for Summer tube travellers, the smell can be overpowering

No .Nappies should not be free. Ridiculous.

Toilets in train stations in London

If so many people are making GP appointments to get paracetamol, aspirin and ibuprofen, maybe the NHS would be better off handing it out for free to everyone at pharmacies. If it costs pennies a box in most of the big shops I can't imagine it'd be expensive for the NHS to buy it in bulk.

Yes to free public toilets, or indeed ANY public toilets. I didn't realise how much difficulty lack of public toilets causes until I was pregnant and literally couldn't go out to various places without having to beg cafe / pub owners to let me use their facilities or buy something for the privilege. It must be really hard for anyone with incontinence issues.

Preventative healthcare like free access to gyms, cookery classes and public transport (people who use public transport walk more on average and it would reduce pollution and congestion in cities?) might save public money in the long run.

From some posts on this thread perhaps the question "what should we have to pay for?" Would be easier to answer!

Vestal - there's also the issue of agrochemicals getting into surface water supplies that need to be treated: not healthy to drink long term.
Then there are industrial discharges that need to be treated/dealt with once in the water system.

Trouble is, too many people are already too wasteful of clean water, forgetting the precious resource that it is - would making it 'free' make this problem worse I wonder?

The reason some people get benefits is because they can't afford , in genuine cases at least, basic stuff. They are getting the benefit FOR these things so why should they then also be free?

I assume that those of you actually working are happy to see your tax go up commensurate with the cost of all these free things?

People on certain benefits get stuff for 'free' that others pay for fluffy. In particular prescriptions, school meals, dental and optical care. The same is not true for those in receipt of carers allowance who don't get means tested benefits. IMO all carers should get most of those things for free as we should look after the health of carers.