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

[MakeMineaMartina]

taking away the bloody bedroom tax for disabled people/children.

[mangohedgehogia]

Make the private rented sector meet the needs of the increasing numbers of families with children who have to rent - more secure, longer term tenancies

Legalise and regulate the cannabis market

[ouryve]

For all children's glasses to be fitted with a tracking device.

[maddy68]

Education Leave decisions to schools, get rid of league tables so they get a good education rathe than just being taught to pass tests and exams at the expense of literacy, numeracy and an engaging curriculum. Leave it to the experts. Teachers!
Stop changing everything. Only allow qualified teachers. Ensure good working conditions so teachers stop leaving the profession Allow 2 weeks authorised absence. Some family can't afford together that is just as valuable as literacy.
Stop telling parents how to parent, allow parents to decide what does into a lunchbox that is not up to schools, that's up to parents
Allow non gcse s to count in league tables if they are still to have them to ensure that non academic kids are given the opportunity to study the right curriculum for them without schools forcing them to do gcses which they will probably fail just so that schools get points for them

[maddy68]

Soppy academy status etc. schools should be under the same criteria. They should not be a business

Yes agree legalise canabis, let's reduce the crime associated with this and regulate it. Similarly the sex industry. Let's make it safe for all

[StrawberryDaiquiriPlease]

Breakfast and after school clubs at all schools (run by private providers / CIC's if necessary) this would help me keep working and encourage others in my area to work.

[oohdaddypig]

I think the mumsnet campaigns are brilliant. Great you are seeking this feedback.

• better miscarriage care in scotland
  
• wrap around care for schools
  
• Internet issues. I am appalled more cant be done about violence against women/extreme porn
  
• availability of porn on Internet and damage done to kids - boys and girls

[afussyphase]

(1) school admission: NO discrimination laws should apply to school admissions - ie there should be no state-funded school that is allowed to do faith-based admission. At all. Not 50%, not 5%, not 1%.

(2) School attendance. School absence rules must be completely overhauled. While I know there is evidence in general for poor attendance leading to poor attainment, surely if we looked we could also find evidence that quality time with family, good relationships with grandparents and extended family, opportunities to travel, a sense of cultural identity and exposure to the world beyond the school, etc are also linked to good things like curiousity about the world, family stability, "social capital", good family life, and ultimately good attainment. Restricting these things for the majority of families who are supportive of education in general just alienates them, and I don't believe it will really help the minority of DC who are harmed by negligent parents who can't be bothered getting them to school.
I think parents should have responsibility for educating their children, and that if they want to remove them for a week here and there, as long as their attainment is not likely to suffer, it should be allowed at the school's discretion. I have relatives who teach in other countries where this is what it's like, and they say it's fine, it's not terribly disruptive, and it's good for children to spend time with family, go on holidays, get medical care, attend funerals/weddings, see grandparents...
Allowances should be made for parents' work. If I think of the number of professional things I miss because my well-attaining 5-year-old HAS TO BE AT SCHOOL NO MATTER WHAT, it is crazy, to the point of undermining my ability to do the best work I can (with public funds, even! Which is very inefficient..). There are a lot of people in this kind of situation. This is very alienating especially for those not from the UK (and others). It undermines trust in the school system generally, and makes people less likely to support the school in other ways (although it's not the school's fault, it still causes bad feelings and makes parent-school relations un-cooperative). And it's even worse that if you can afford private schools, you have a different set of rules -- why should legal obligations for attendance depend on a school's funding setup?
Absence should also be completely independent of medical issues - parents don't control when appointments can be made, after all.

(3) FGM - more important for those it affects, obviously.

[afussyphase]

And just to clarify: if I could actually solve one of these it would be FGM because it is such a terrible and severe issue for the (smaller number of) people it affects! My comment wasn't to minimise it at all.

[Sallyingforth]

Stopping FGM is vital because not only is it evil in itself, but it is a symptom of the subservience of women in the societies that practise it.
Once those societies realise FGM is unacceptable they may begin to look at other basic rights that are denied to women.

[cinemalovers]

State investment in childcare and in flexible working are atill very important.

Also increased protection and stability for people who rent their homes.

A living wage to replace the minimum wage, and an aim to reduce the amount that government subsidises big business through tax credits, workfare etc. People should be paid to work.

[BlueEyeshadow]

No school should ever be forced to become an academy. Education policy to be based on evidence, research, to be creative, room for arts and non-money making subjects. Academies should be able to return to LA control.

Don't privatise NHS.

Scrap bedroom tax.

[BigfootFiles]

In an ideal world, I'd like to see 'education' separated from Government. Accountable to, but not run by Westminster. Education is used as a political football and every time there's a general election they start jiggering about with it. There's too much change for change's sake.

Failing that, at least let experts with experience of teaching and children shape policy - an evidence based approach which the Education Secretary is obliged to use, rather than personal decisions with no accountability or rationale behind them.

Let the teachers and headteachers have the autonomy to make decisions without it being micromanaged and reduce the amount of paperwork and hoops teachers have to jump through.

Remove the burden of testing on kids - e.g. ditch SATS, there's no benefit to them and the logical conclusion of the current system is teaching to the test, which does not give children the best 'education'. A whole term is spent teaching kids to pass SATS to make the school look good, while the kids are bored to tears and/or stressed out. Not a good way to encourage kids to stay engaged with education/learning! Not a good way to get the best outcomes for our kids!

I also think school league tables do more harm than good.

[mymatemax]

Ensure that childrens services, things like speech therapy, wheelchair services, occupational therapy etc etc are NOT outsourced.
IME where outsourcing has taken place the child ceases to be the priority in the decision making.
Profit or at the very least, budget restriction takes the priority over clinical need or best practice.

[mymatemax]

Also, what is the point of imposing HUGE fines on hospitals or trusts that have gone over budget.
Surely this is just setting them up to fail the following year.
It IS the patient that ultimately suffers.
YES there must be consequences for poor management or decision making BUT the patient shouldn't feel the pain.

[mymatemax]

The autonomy given to academies should be restricted to daily operational/educational decision making and not go beyond.
I am fearful that will be a sell off of assets that would otherwise be protected.

[mymatemax]

Scrap SATS & any test that doesn't benefit the child.
Allow, empower & ensure heads and governors are effectively monitoring their staff performance. Rewarding good teaching and disciplining those that are not performing.
Good local management is the only way to drive improvement a one size fits all process doesn't work
Schools should not only be judged on academic achievement, the result is non inclusive school who actively discourage children who they believe will not achieve.
These children all end up at the not so academic but more inclusive school down the road who therefore has lower academic results, this impacts on teacher retention etc... ends up in a downward spiral and a two tier education system

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

I'd like policies that promote long term tenancies. 1 in 4 families live in rented and it's so difficult when your children are at school, particular because we know that moving schools frequently hampers childrens academic progress.

I want a higher tax rate for super high earners back (those on over £150k iirc)

I'd like various welfare 'reforms' rethought.

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

I want immigration and women back I'm the national curriculum.

[balenciaga]

Build more council housing. Way , way more. And Not just for the truly desperate but for any one who wants / needs it

Cap rent as a proportion of income to make it fair

Sort out cost of living (no idea how though!!)

Subsidise childcare so parents can actually make some money by working

Abolish "bedroom tax"

Overhaul the tax credits system to make it more transparent and fair

Abolish parents being fined for taking dc out of school (or ban holiday companies from charging silly money in the holidays )

I realise these are all very idealistic and I'm not that clever so no idea how they could actually be implemented

[Sallyingforth]

so no idea how they could actually be implemented

or paid for :(

[MerryMarigold]

I think Education is a massive, massive one for parents. I'd prefer to see Education policies handled by a-political experts, though obviously managed by the government, and not on crazy whims. It doesn't seem like health policies change so rapidly as education ones, and I can only assume it's because government ministers don't think they know as much about open heart surgery as they do about teaching a class of children.

[MerryMarigold]

PS. I am not a teacher, but I am concerned massively by education now that I have 3 children in the system. I am very worried about Gove's policies and the impact they will have on my kids.

[BMW6]

Tackle Drug/Alcohol/Gambling effectively. Enforced rehabilitation IMHO.
These addictions lead to crime and Welfare Dependancy and the suffering extends to the immediate families and on into the wider community.

[tempe48]

1. Scrap academies - they are being pump primed. If every school in the country were an academy, they could not all have the extra funding they get now, compared to LA controlled schools. There needs to be county wide planning of admissions, SEN, specialist services such as behaviour support, educational psychologists, etc.
   

2.Stop the healthy eating policies - staff enforce this, with no understanding of girls, at risk of eating disorder.

1. More emphasis on education for adult life - producing a rounded person, with an understanding of child development, financial tasks (like budgeting, what an APR is, etc) and more vocational education; instead of this one size fits all academic national curriculum. High achieving schools are often fixated on the league tables and talk only about grade A/A*s, regardless of the effects of the pressure on the children - because their pay rises depend on it!
   
2. Proper policing of the SEN system, instead of leaving the policing to parents via appeals to the SEN Tribunal, complaints to the Ombudsman and judicial review.
   
3. Ditto - proper policing of the social care system for disabled children/teenagers. I can only rarely recall coming across a parent with a child with a proper core assessment and care plan, that meets all the needs. Most parents/carers where I live, don't even seem to know what a care plan is, let alone have one!
   
4. Children's health should not be the Cinderella of the NHS - where children are regarded as a lower priority than adults. It would be more cost effective to prevent disabilities arising where possible in children, than pay for a lifetime of social care support, etc for them as adults.
   

7.More investment in CAMHS - it is a false economy to leave teenagers, with mental health problems untreated, until they are adults - by which the problems are bigger and more entrenched!

1. More joined up thinking between health, education and social care - instead of each of them acting to preserve their own budgets, leaving parents of disabled children having to fight for every provision among a confusing array of professionals and public sector agencies. Its worse dealing with them, than the grief and stress over the disability itself.
   
2. Reverse the cuts in legal aid where applicable in health, education and social care. Just because there was overspending in the area of asylum seekers, does not justify cuts for our most vulnerable citizens. (The cynic might say the government is out to prevent challenges to local authorities/NHS decisions, so it can enforce cuts to services)
   
3. Stop this talk of £20 billion efficiency savings in the NHS - they are cuts to services. Instead remove the purchaser/provider split - creates needless paperwork, layers of management, etc.
   

9.Health, education and social care are there to provide a service, based on care - they cannot be run on big business principles, with an obsession with targets. Targets distort the provision of care, because the target becomes an end in itself and encourages unethical behaviour.