so apparently i've upset the entire chain of command by sticking up for families of pre-school children in our community, who have been told that they must pay the nursery education grant portion of their pre-school bill up front each month, which will then be refunded (well, claimed for anyway) at the end of each term.
i appear to be the only person who thinks this is unacceptable in any form, and clearly against dfes guidance, which states that under NO circumstances should parents be required to do this.
having raised it to the aff and through the chain of command, i have been told it won't change and the unit will do as it likes.
apparently they have told the families that anyone suffering financial hardship can go to ssafa, or get an interest free loan through the pay office. because, clearly families with young children are going to be queueing up to explain they are skint and can't afford the nursery fees, right?
however, i then made a tactical error and approached the education officer at my place of work, which resulted in a bit of a ding dong 
. i put my hands up and explained to my manager that i shouldn't have discussed it with him at work, but he came in and it developed naturally. anyway, the guy left saying he would have a look at it, hadn't realised some of the facts (like dfes said it wasn't to happen) etc etc.
i left it then, because i trusted he would look into it.
so then yesterday i got an almighty shooing at work. my boss had an official complaint about my behaviour from the SO1. (fair enough - had already said it wasn't an appropriate setting - took it on the chin, apologised again, etc) my boss wants me to go and speak to the SO1, but i know i'm going to lose it and be really exceptionally rude about the intelligence of a young man that apparently can't tell the difference between a wife and a representative of a financial organisation, which will somehwat divert attention from the real issue - that of families being forced to gork out hundreds of dollars in additional nursery payments, leaving themselves short (at christmas - no way will the refund be even processed by easter if i know the military... and boy, do i.)
so having used the appropriate channels, i get the finger. using an inapprpriate channel, i get told that if i express my opinion again, there will be an official complaint to regional manager and i'll pretty much get sacked.
i can live with that tbh.
but i'm pretty certain that had i discussed this with the guy outside of my work, he'd have done the same thing - run off squealing to the SO1 and demanded that my husband be told to get me in line.
ffs.
i'm livid - who will help these families? why on earth should they be forced to pay out a government grant in advance and claim the money back months later, in direct contravention of govt guidance?
my boss is okay btw - she did say she wasn't going to stop me having opinions, but that i shouldn't be expressing them at work (yep, not daft, realised that, but my absolute frustration boiled over, which is why i went to her and fessed up)
and if i continue to beat this blardy dead horse, it now looks like sour grapes because i got told off like a four year old. aaaargh.
anyway, just wanted to rant.