Im surprised this hasnt been picked up but I saw it on the news last night and I did laugh at the points they emphasised. To be unbias I will resolve to read the whole report when I have time.
Quote:
Key points: Tory social policy
Iain Duncan Smith's social justice policy group has produced its final report for Conservative Party leader David Cameron. It aims to tackle "social breakdown" and boost marriage. Here are the main points:
# Social breakdown costs the UK £102bn a year - with crime taking up £60bn, family breakdown £24bn and educational under-achievement £18bn, the report says
# Married couples to be able to transfer tax allowance, worth about £20 a week, if one parent is not working, such as if one stays at home to bring up a child. Will cost £3.2bn a year
# "Front load" child benefits so that families can get up to £2,800 a year - three times the current rate - until a child reaches three, with lower payments later on in the child's life
# Increase couples' allowances through working tax credits system, giving up to 1.8 million couples an extra £32 a week - costing £3bn a year
# Lone parents on benefits expected to work 16 hours a week when their youngest child reaches five and 30 hours a week when their youngest child reaches 11
# To qualify for Job Seeker's Allowance, applicants should "be spending all their time" looking for work
# Courses for parents to teach them how to help with their child's development.
# £500 annual "education credit" for poor children to pay for extras like music and language classes
# Good head teachers would be encouraged to go and stay at schools in poorer areas by paying them at 25% above the base rate and give bonuses of up to 50%
# A "treatment tax" on alcohol to help pay for a £400m programme to reduce drink and drug addiction
# Contract out welfare-to-work programmes to private firms and voluntary groups
# Charities and parents to be allowed to set up schools free of local authority control in cases where existing schools are deemed to be failing
# Make voluntary work part of the school curriculum and reward children who undertake community work with pop concert tickets
# Year 6 pupils in England to get "school giving vouchers" worth £5 each term, to donate to a charity of their choice after presentations on the work of volunteer and charity groups - to instil habits of charitable giving.
# Undertake trials of drug testing in schools
# Raise the minimum gambling age from 16 to 18 and require the gaming industry to spend £10m a year on research into anti-addiction programmes
# Increase charity-based and volunteer organisations offering residential and "cold-turkey" based "holistic" treatment for drug addiction.
# New Juvenile Treatment orders for drug offences which would be wiped out after five years so the child is not stigmatised for life
# A "trustmark" scheme to give the most effective voluntary groups a new level of recognition - allowing them to attract higher levels of private and public sector grants
# Credit unions to provide more low-interest loans to low-income families at risk from loan sharks
# More private-sector schemes offering personal finance education to children and adults.
# Set up relationship classes and a Marriage and Relationship Institute, make a Cabinet minister responsible for the family and increase the carer's allowance
# Look at extending right-to-buy housing schemes
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Highlights here are tax breaks for married couple of £20 a week and the reports statistic that 70% of children from a broken family WILL become a drug addict.
I think the extra benefits for married couples in an attempt to have less family breakdown is a backward step. Already unmarried couples have enough problems with their rights etc and I thought we had made some forward progress with that but with this Tory lot where Marriage is central to a successful family this could all go out the window.
And secondly, 70% of children will become a drug addict. I wanna see all these kids and I also wanna see the percentage of kids from an unbroken home that become drug addicts.
