What ideas and suggestions would you like us to pass on to the new government?

[Carriemumsnet]

We are meeting with government in the next few weeks and we'd like to pick your brains. Obviously times are tight and most government departments will be anxious to find ways to increase efficiency. Do you have any thoughts about how things could be made simpler and easier, perhaps by using Mumsnet to implement services or offer support currently offered in other ways? Are there particular services that you think warrant special protection and should be ring-fenced? Or any particular ones that you feel are badly implemented/ wasteful? How could Mumsnet work with government to make life easier for parents? For example should Mumsnet be promoted by Midwives and Health Visitors to parents when they leave hospital or have their final visit? Could Mumsnet be used as a job-share hub? We know you'll have lots of ideas and suggestions, so please post them here and we'll try and pass on as many of them as we can.

Thanks, MNHQ

\\sdingle mums (Ans I am not one so not being defensive) don't ahve the same chances to support them as married ones either.

A an example, all the childcare here is at best 7.30-06.30.

Thereby eliminating all shift work if no partner to share load with.

SO it ius inevitable that single parents will struggle more than dual parents to find work. And it's hard enough for anyone right now.

(sorry, random toddler typo)

The Lib Dem idea of making the 1st £10000 of salary tax free would make an enormous difference to me. I will be returning part time and not on a high wage. I was offered a job recently but had to turn it down because my take home pay was so low in comparison to the costs of having to get a car, pay for petrol, childcare and holiday club for 4 children. It would have meant that I was paying to work in the school holidays.
Also - speaking on behalf of hubby in the NHS who manages a frontline service : his service, for example, moves along smoothly etc and is successful but he must get instructions about new initiatives and reshuffling of services etc etc every day. why not just let services get on with what they are doing for a year with no new initiatives and so forth. Let them consolidate, take stock, take a breath and do the work they do best like seeing clients instead of trying to meet a million and one new targets, initiatives and rejuggling of services where there is no good reason to rejuggle etc.

Foreign HGVs are a real menace, particularly in the SE. Europe are building bigger and bigger lorries and our roads cannot cope. Labour spent lots of money looking into a lorry-charging scheme, then abandoned it saying they'd charge all drivers. Lorries damage the roads and foreign lorries cost us money we don't get back. Why can't we charge them?

Better still, send the trailers over and get them picked up by British drivers, and send the British trailers to be picked up by European drivers. Just have British lorries on our roads.

On the same subject start getting tougher with the French Government and charge them every penny cost to UK by the French blockades of the Channel ports, which lead to Operation Stack and the closure of the M20 on a regular basis. Why should businesses in Kent be held to ransom by the French?

Too many to mention but

1. reform benefits system and disability benefits

no many claiming too much imo - those who need it should not have to jump through hoops - work shy should be forced back to work

get rid of that 16 hour a week rule for starters

how about they stop courting the views of random people from the internet?

Agree re cutting the health in pregnancy grant.

Get rid of free bus travel for school age children (which I assume is supplemented by the public purse?) Set a flat rate of 10p/20p per journey.

Get rid of free prescriptions. Set a flat rate of 50p per item or similar. Exemptions could still be given for specific life saving medication which people are dependent on. The current system of exemption certificates mean that patients don't have to pay for any medications.

Establish what the average age of first time home ownership/rental is. Anyone under that age should not be entitled to social housing, irrespective of whether or not they have babies.

CTC/WTC costs money to administrate. If they sort out the tax system to make it fairer, these could either be abolished or people who fit the criteria could be automatically entitled to it, saving money on processing applications.

I'd table the suggestion of cutting all public sector pay by 5% or similar. Most people would (reluctantly) accept less money in favour of losing their jobs altogether.

Placing a cap on the amount by which house prices can increase (say, in line with inflation) would help people get on the property ladder, saving money spent on HB/social housing and generating more revenue in tax.

Fundamentally, driving down the cost of living in this country would help everyone.

Put up VAT - it has to happen.

Means test CB, but keep CTF facility - the tax free allowance would help parents saving for their future, although I accept that the CTF grant will have to end.

Set a timetable for the banks to repay us and penalise them if they fail - the same way they do to us.

MNHQ - have you abandoned this thread?

The day MN agrees a formal link with any government, is the day I never, ever post again. Scary, scary, scary, scary stuff.

If the gov't wants to pay MN to consult on the development and running of a totally different site, fine.

As for what to tell the gov't - please ensure children's centres continue to be well-funded and universally accessible without means testing.

Super important for all children and families to mix together. Promote social cohesion and tolerance. Don't cut children's centre services for middle class parents and children - this is akin to cutting health provision.

Ditch the anonymity for accused rapists idea - wasn't in either manifesto, no-one voted for it and given the financial crisis it's a bizarre thing to have as one of your first priorities.

Live up to the line that 'we are all in this together'. Tax the rich as well as the poor. If you don't have the balls to put up Capital Gains Tax on short-term speculators, you have no right to put up basic taxes paid by ordinary people with few assets (or cut the public services on which they depend).

Try and talk to some people who aren't Old Etonians or from three or four other leading public schools. Just occasionally.

Time to add my pennies worth.

What really annoys me is my lazy soon to be ex-sister-in-law.

She is a very nice person but she refuses to work - point blank and claims income support off the state to the tune of £1,700 per month. My brother is a good boy and pays her the full maintence of £515 per month, sees his children regularly and is very generous with them including contributing to holidays when they go abroad. Her monthly net income is £2,215.

She has 3 children (so do I). The youngest is 8, mine is 6. She is a trained hairdresser and is personable. I work part time to work around the school hours etc, claim no benefits what so ever. I do have a working dp. We both work really hard, always have and yes we are typically middle class.

So mu questions to David Cameron are?

Why is she getting so much money?
Were is her incentive to go out to work?

If all women decided to leave their dp's with their dc and claim benefit, what would happen then?

I would add to that: Why is her £515 a month maintenance money discounted when calculating her tax credits? I never ever understood the logic in that - it's like maintenance is some kind of sacred cow which it isn't, it's income plain and simple. Especially since, if her ex has kids, his tax credit award will not take into account the fact he's paying £515 a month out in maintenance.

Scoobydoolady - does she get housing benefit on top of all that as well?! Or if renting would she be entitled to? Cos I earn quite OK money in a professional job and she's well ahead of me already in the income stakes (including my CTC).

Do you believe they'll really take all this on board?

It would be nice, wouldn't it, but so would chocolate having zero calories.

I'm trying hard to be positive and optimistic, somehow I think it's woven into my very nature, being American born.

But the apple didn't fall very far from the tree, in so many ways.

Another one who would simply find another site if MN decided to become a government tool.

Can I just ask by what you (MNHQ) mean by "we are meeting with government"? There is no such person as "government" and pretty much no one person who could implement all the ideas here (even the PM!). The person /people you are meeting would just forward them to the relevant government department (and the ideas here span many different departments' portfolios). .

Absolutely Wigeon. I find the whole idea thet 'the government' would be consulting Mumsnet in any kind of meaningful way just weird. IMO it's all just a mutual publlicity tool but could actually backfire on both Mumsnet and Government.

Making both look like idiots.

I agree with Wigeon. It seem absurd to me to even say they are going to consult the public on policy let alone 'we will consult various small (and sorry MNHQ but however many users you have doesn't mean you have power), organisation'. It's absolutely meaningless.

We gave our opinions at the ballot box, we wanted a different screwed up government to look after our interests. Go do it and stop asking silly questions.

I think they know what they will do. They just want to find out it is going to be popular. MN is a good way of doing an opinion poll.

Does anyone know how to or who to contact with regards to lobbying about the reform of the child support agency. I have emailed my local MP's, councillors and Govet - all a load of tripe if I am quite honest. I am very disillousioned and feel that over the past 12 years my sons' and my voice has not been heard nor supported. I beleive that there does need to be a rdical shake up of the system as my ex has played the CSA for far too long....anyone with suggestions I would gladly appreciate your advice!

always wipe from front to back.

ta

I would be concerned about government thinking that consulting those of us that use mumsnet are representative of the views of parents generally. Mumsnet is great, but it does not represent all parents.

I remember a thread where we a poster asked what jobs we did and I remember at the time thinking that SAHMs and public sector workers seemed more highly represented on mumsnet than in real life. During the election, there were also proportionally more Labour supporters on here than in real life. We are a self selected sample of people. NONE of my friends that work full time and have a family use Mumsnet at all, so their views won't be captured. Their priorities for government could be different.

If the government are serious about getting a broad range of views from all parents, it would be more appropriate to consult parents attending baby clinics or contacting parents through schools. Also, what is all this consultation costing? I really wish they would just get on with it - they are the experts supposedly in running the economy, not us laypeople.

will there be a radical reform of the Child Support Agency? My son has received little/ no CSa for the past 12 years due to the ex knowing how to play the system to his advantage.
I have been dragged through the fmaily law courts for joint parental responsibility by my ex and along with that shoudl be financial responsibility. This needs to be reformed and looked at as they currently do not align.
The system is not current or relevant.