MNHQ calling: we want to know what would be on your policy wishlist

[RowanMumsnet]

Over the years, when MNers have got stuck into issues they particularly care about, we've often seen agreement (or something approaching agreement ) around particular policy ideas.

As the May 2015 general election approaches (ish), we’d like to find out what you think about what the next government should do - parenting-related or otherwise. Which commitments would you like to see in the parties’ manifestos? What would make you consider switching your vote (or voting at all, if you don’t currently intend to)? Which issues do you think deserve to be top priority for incoming ministers?

We’ve collectively campaigned on or added our support to others' campaigns around a number of issues, such as:

affordable, available childcare;
better provision of education, health and social services for children with additional needs;
better miscarriage care;
more and better sex and relationships education in schools;
the availability and variety of contraception;
getting sales reps off maternity wards;
flexible working; and
tackling FGM.

Other issues that seem to crop up regularly are bringing down the cost of some school uniforms; and more and/or better-paid parental leave, including paternity leave and bereavement/adjustment leave.

Are there other things Mumsnetters collectively agree on? Are those on the above list still as important to you as they have been? We’d thought we'd throw out this entirely unscientific starter for 10 with a view to informing a more nuanced analysis of each issue and a fuller survey of Mumsnet users in time for, no doubt, the string of ministers and ministerial hopefuls headed our way come early next year when the election campaign gets into full swing.

So please do let us know what you think.

Thanks
MNHQ

I am all for healthy eating but I do think that schools ought to be educated on what constitutes a healthy diet for a child as they don't appear to have a clue in some cases!
Time off in term time ought to be given back to the Head to authorise or not- they know the pupils.
It ought to be recognised that the elderly need time and consistency and they can't be allocated 30 minute slots for care in the home!

I think that schools have high aspirations- maybe NK5BM3 just has a very poor one. My comprehensive already gets many pupils into top universities. I think they need more resources for SENs.

Parent pressure.

I can't elaborate at the minute because I have to make 3 costumes for school fun day, search the house for tombola gifts, work out our working schedules so that they fit in with teacher training days, devise a family budget that includes £100 for school outings/bun days/book day/craft day/baking day, spend time doing reading/homework and eventually spend time with my children doing fun family things along with teaching them to become respectable, law abiding, accepting, forward thinking, open minded adults.

I'll be back to elaborate in 25 years

Open new grammar schools
Referendum on EU membership
Serious restrictions on zero hours contracts

An end to worship of a broadly Christian nature in State schools. More widely, a proper separation of Church and State.

Delphinium, it depends on the school, I don't remember having any career advice. So I agree with NK.

I also think that children need to be taught about budgeting, APR's, council tax, how to live within your means etc. too. Also about pensions and having a life plan and career goals. How to save to get a mortgage.

I am in a much better financial position than my parents, through sheer hard graft and moving away from the small town I grew up in. Partly through luck, but I often wonder if I had been given more tools, awareness and life skills through school I would of achieved more.

Sorry I'm waffling as I've been on the

Treat sexism and sex discrimination as the serious issue it is, starting with schools and then making sure that workplaces are no longer able to hide behind "individual negotiation" to systematically pay women less than men for the same work.

And YYY to CSA. 3/5 of lone parents receive no maintenance at all, because financial abuse of children is not even recognised as the abuse it is. Governments should rectify this and stop charging resident parents for trying to address financial abuse by NRPs.

You would have learned grammar too. Don't judge today's education by your own. It's changed beyond recognition

Better rights to sharing parental leave - couples should have the right to share the time and the statutory pay however works best for them, including an option of both members of a couple working half their normal hours for a time, and still getting the SMP to make up some of the lost income.

YYY on preventing ignorant schools from enforcing ill-educated misinformed ideas of healthy eating, especially when some children are underweight and need extra calories to grow.

Better protection for private tenants.

Build some houses

then.....

build some more houses.

Repeat, until there are enough houses.

Oh and German-style rent regulation too.

Sorry Eduardo, was that aimed at me? my own father can hardly write a sentence so apologies for my misuse of have/of. Did you mean to be so rude?
I grew up in a very poor region of the UK and I promise you things are actually worse there now than 20 years ago. Very few students to go university, and ambition is very lacking, because there are very few role models.

I'm not blaming my teachers, & I apologise if my grammar is incorrect. I'm saying that these things should be added to the curriculum, but I'll just lurk in future rather than face ridicule.

Another agreeing with the lack of provision for academically able special needs children. Primary school wasn't an issue for my autistic son but now were approaching high school I've been told he is too intelligent for special school but has too many needs for mainstream school! 4 months and still no suggestions as to what were actually going to do or where to send him. It's beyond a joke.

Properly joined up education, health and social care for children with learning disabilities, not the pathetic pretence at it that has been served up in the Children and Families Act.

Access to proper, effective pain relief in labour - and an end to midwives' misinformation about the side effects of pain relief.

An end to religious schools and religious school admission criteria.

A radical reform of the siblings admission criterion which currently means that some schools are completely shut to local (catchment) children.

Fully equal paternity leave - so both working parents can begin to share the burden from the get go.

Chickenpox and flu vaccination available to all children.

Phasing out of faith stAte schools - no new ones, and existing ones given time to sort themselves out re land etc to either become independent schools or non-faith

So no support for SAHP in the op,are we just invisible,I'm sure there are a fair few of us?

More support for SAHP,more value given to the role and less demonising please.

Not sure how this is going to work really.MN can't presume to speak for everybody.Not everybody is going to agree with all things listed in the op or an extended version.It's a bit presumptions to speak for all members.

'Open new grammar schools' always gives me a wry smile! The person never ever comes out with 'open new secondary modern schools' which is what it means.
Luckily there is no chance- since at least 75% of parents would have to accept the secondary modern(or whatever name they care to give it-as it is hardly 'modern') they will fight it tooth and nail.
I agree that we need to improve the careers service.

A reversal of the ludicrous CB debacle.

I would like to understand the resources placed to investigate tax avoidance / dodging which is disproportionately lower than the resource to tackle benefit fraud.

I believe both are valid but the former may provide the tax payer with better value for money.

Also agree with

trying to stop FGM,

better much more flexible childcare which is affordable (ie less sessional more x hours here and there!)

More female curriculum inclusion as above re pirates!

• the end to CSA charges. It's only going to hurt ex-partners of abusive and controlling men.

• more pressure on employers to offer flexible hours / working from home. It shouldn't just be a perk of management who get to work from home when their child is sick.

• more house building.

• improved mental health care. I'm not sure the situation could be much worse TBH.

Better funding for Women's Aid. So many MNers have had life changing support from Women's Aid, and yet they struggle along often on a shoestring. I would like to see an election promise that they will be properly financed by the Government.

Just been reminded of the CSA changes. Yes, reverse them, and ar

The NHS is the very top of my list, with more than 70% of contracts now going to private companies it fits the WHO definition of privatisation - we're losing the NHS without even noticing and that's a scandal.