What is your final voting decision? *New Poll*

[WW1]

I thought they were introducing more surestarts or something

Family
The Government cannot go on ignoring the importance of strong families.

They provide the stability, warmth and love which children need to flourish, and the relationships they foster are the bedrock on which society is built.

We are determined to give parents more of the help they need and make Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe.

A Conservative government will:

Work to improve Sure Start and increase the services provided in Children’s Centres across the country;
Provide 4,200 extra Sure Start health visitors so parents can get the expert help they need;
Introduce a new system of flexible parental leave so parents can share maternity leave between them or both take time off simultaneously;
Extend the right to request flexible working to every parent with a child under the age of eighteen; and ensure that the government leads from the front by extending the right to request flexible working to all those in the public sector, recognising that this may need to be done in stages;
Recognise marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system, bringing us into line with other major European countries and making 4 million couples up to £150 per year better off;
Open a new generation of good, small schools with smaller classes and top-quality teachers;
Support pensioners by re-linking the basic state pension to earnings, and protecting things like the winter fuel payment, free bus passes and free TV licences;
Work with local councils to freeze Council Tax for two years;
Reform the administration of tax credits to reduce fraud and overpayments, which hit the poorest families hardest;
Help make childcare more affordable by supporting the provision of free nursery care for pre-school children and reviewing the way the childcare industry is regulated and funded;
Provide more information and advice for parents and put funding for relationship counselling on a more stable long-term footing;
Review family law in order to look at how best to provide greater access rights to non-resident parents and grandparents; and
Help reverse the commercialisation of childhood, by clamping down on inappropriate advertising to children and letting teachers ban advertising and vending machines in schools.
These policies will give families a fairer deal and ensure that more children get the stable upbringing they need. Together, they mean we have by far the most family-friendly manifesto of any party standing at this election.

This is what the manifesto says the lib dems might have made some changes but I cant see them closing them all

Do you know how they are planning to pay for all this? Not a dig - I'm just interested (you can't argue with most of it!)

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I dont think Clegg could keep everyone happy either way. I just dislike the Torys and I think that all I can do now is get on with it and when everything goes tits up I will be thankful that the conservatives did not get my vote!

 

[AppleBlossom]

I think as long as Clegg is there to keep a realistic stance we should be ok. He made it more clear than the others that his priority was the public not the party. Hopefully that's true because Cameron is much more interested in his party. We'll see anyway!

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I hope so too x

 

[Missy86]

No I have no idea and I make no excuse for that but I was only using it as an example

People are saying they are gonna get rid of surestarts and people are also panicking that they will get no benifits but where is the evidence

 

[dani_tinks]

I dont think Clegg could keep everyone happy either way. I just dislike the Torys and I think that all I can do now is get on with it and when everything goes tits up I will be thankful that the conservatives did not get my vote!

 

[Hayley90]

I dont know completely where the funding is coming from but i think the idea of scrapping CTCs for families over £50k & cancelling the CTF would go a long way to paying for surestarts etc.

OT - What do surestart centres do? There is one near me but its inside a YMCA out of mischief daycare nursery - There arent any playgroups or anything around here i was wondering if surestart did those? If so, they arent much use around here

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

the sure start round here is FANTASTIC.

They do a varity of groups for kids of all ages etc.

Pregnancy groups

A system where you can donate some clothes and then pick some up in your childs size free of charge. Same for clothes.

Post natal support groups- MY LIFE SAVER (seriously)

Domestic violence support

C.A.B advice on certain days

Health vistors

etc

as you can see VITAL to the community.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I dont know completely where the funding is coming from but i think the idea of scrapping CTCs for families over £50k & cancelling the CTF would go a long way to paying for surestarts etc.

OT - What do surestart centres do? There is one near me but its inside a YMCA out of mischief daycare nursery - There arent any playgroups or anything around here i was wondering if surestart did those? If so, they arent much use around here

I never thought I would need to use a surestart untill I had PND. We dont know what life holds and I would hate for them to go.

 

[polo_princess]

Well we've got to give them a chance, we dont get a choice im afraid.

I can see this being a good long term solution, but hopefully some good will come out of it

 

[AppleBlossom]

Surestart centres have loads of things to benefit parents. They provide information, run antenatal classes, classes for mums and babies to attend and also they usually have a nursery in there somewhere which tend to be cheaper than other daycare nurseries

 

[Jkelmum]

Surestart centres have loads of things to benefit parents. They provide information, run antenatal classes, classes for mums and babies to attend and also they usually have a nursery in there somewhere which tend to be cheaper than other daycare nurseries

Our sure start runs out reach which without there would be no baby groups round here without going into town and then those ones would be over crowded

 

[Hayley90]

Oh I must have a really poo one then. They definately don't run any groups. I did my work experience in the YMCA nursery and they share a long thin cabin thing by a primary school. No antenatal classes or anything. I might look online actually they must offer more surely. There's a new church that I know they use sometimes but I don't live there anymore so can't ask...bit peeved there isn't more near me though.

 

[dani_tinks]

Ours are great too they run so many groups including postnatal, baby massage, yoga, and its just nice to meet up with mums in the same boat. Id be lost without ours.

 

[polo_princess]

Ive NEVER been to a surestart centre and ive NO idea what my local ones do, where it is or what

I dont see that as a good thing either

 

[buttonnose82]

wonder who has paid for the shiny new jag for someone of the cabinet

 

[polo_princess]

I was saying that to OH last night, i bet that cost a feckload of money, a brand new Jag isnt cheap, let alone as heavily armoured as it was!!

 

[Hayley90]

Me either PP.
I've googled it and none of that stuff came up. No antenatal groups or baby clubs. Just the nursery which I alreay knew about - run by the YMCA so costs a fortune a month.
They do little meetings in the church building but it doesn't say what groups and when. And it's on a completely different estate - where I used to liVe. Nothing near where I
live Now at all.

 

[AppleBlossom]

Surestart centres are like the hub of many communities, without them a lot of parents and their children would be lost

 

[buttonnose82]

why can't they use the 55 jag brown used, surely that is a waste of money when we need to be saving money