Submitted Ideas

Housing 

Sequestration of land with planning permission

There is a huge shortage of housing in this country yet a lot of land that could be built on is in the hands of a handful of building companies. Development land should be built on within a year of its purchase or the land should be able to be sequestrated by the government and handed to councils to develop. At the moment a developer can keep a planning approval open simply by digging a small foundation, or sinking a pile. It means they don’t have to build yet but can do when it suits them. No, in the case of housing, planning approval given, on site within 12 months, or lose the land.  

Members of the public will be encouraged to form self build collectives which will attract tax breaks. Local councils and landowners will be incentivised with tax breaks to sell land to these collectives in order for them to build their own houses.

Any land that currently has solar industrial complexes (‘farms’) installed, can be sold off for housing redevelopment at the current value of the rent of the solar farms on the priviso that all of the houses built must have solar panels fitted. 

Modular construction, timber framed houses will become the norm for housing. Banks will be instructed to lend money for mortgages for these properties. 

Government

‘The 100’. 

100 people can be summoned (like Jury service) to give opinion, advice or public scrutiny on anything. This may be an idea that the government has, or a law that is going through parliament that needs more public scrutiny and opinion (brought in at 2nd reading), or an idea that any member of the public has which may be widely supported in the country and could be made into a law, but is not supported with time by the current government.

Members of Parliament. 

One third of MPs will be elected every two years. 

A hotel will be procured by the government. All MPs and Lords, requiring overnight accommodation will use this hotel. No second homes will be provided by the state. Houses of state like Chequers can be kept for use by the PM. 

Long term policies that will affect the whole country will be voted on by the people in packages by referendum. These policies will then be followed by all governments rather than changed at the whim of an incoming government. In Government there are 24 ministerial departments, 20 non ministerial departments, 424 agencies and other public bodies, 116 high profile groups, 19 public corporations, 3 devolved administrations. Each of these areas will be examined and the value (and cost) to the country assessed by ‘The Hundred’.

Quangos

Quangos will be examined for their purpose and worth and slimmed down, amalgamated or scrapped completely. Any quango that has responsibility for any area that affects the general public will be brought into government. Government will not be allowed to outsource decision making to outside bodies. All decisions affecting the public at large should be put to a referendum (like Switzerland do).

Anyone in a public body, quango, local authority, health authority, academic institution or any quango (or any other public bodies that get any kind of government funding) that earns more than the prime minister will pay tax over £150k of 75%. Staff in any charity that receives its funding from the government will have the same apply.

House of Lords 

The house of lords will be abolished and replaced by 500 person senate. 400 will be professional people and can be MP’s, judges, lawyers, businessmen, teachers, doctors, policemen, clergy, military and other persons considered to be suitable but all have to be approved by the public. They will serve for a maximum of 10 years and 10% will be replaced each year. There will be no hereditary peers and no government appointments. The other 100 members will be members of the public, drawn from the census at random, who will be seconded for a year. Employers will not have to continue to pay them, the time being treated as a sabbatical. Chosen public members will be paid the daily attendance rate every day as a minimum or their salary if higher. At the end of the year, if they have attended to their duties for 80% of the time then they will receive a £25k tax free award. The 500 will responsible for examining and questioning the legislation put forward by the government. 

Finance

A National Bank.

I think we should set up a national bank where everyone can invest and the funds invested there spent on new council housing and new council housing only. Interest rates would be set at 3% for investors and 4% fixed rate for borrowers and there wouldn’t be any big bonuses for directors. I would certainly invest there if I knew that this was what my money was going to be used for.

Interest rates.

In the US you get a mortgage for x % but if the interest rate drops you can get a new mortgage for the reduced rate and if the rate rises again the mortgage rate doesn’t? Why can’t we do this in Britain? 

National Health Insurance and Pensions

Everyone will have their own NHI&P private account fund. You pay into the fund monthly as you do with NI but the money builds up in the form a bond and funds your health insurance. You can choose to top this up if you wish. If you need hospital treatment the funds for this come from the MHI&P insurance fund. At the appropriate age you will retire and the money you have in the fund, which has been invested throughout your working life, will become your pension. Anyone who has had a life full of illness will be looked after when they retire by the government with a minimum pension being paid as now by the state.  

Transport

Subsidised public transport

How much would it cost to meaningfully subsidise bus and train fares so that more people use them? To get people out of their cars it needs to be made much cheaper to travel by bus or by train so what would this really cost?

Electric car charging

The government should take control of the car charging network and nationalise it. The government will borrow the money to install a complete and planned network and once completed will sell of 49% of it to the general public via the issue of shares. Shareholders will get a discount on the cost of using the chargers. The capital cost of the project will be recouped over 5 years or until the capital cost is repaid, by a small levy per kWh on the cost of electricity consumed by car users. Once the capital cost is paid back the network will be owned by the government and the shareholders and operated as a public company. 

All electric car sites with multiple charging stations (such as motorway services) will have connection to a battery pack and solar panels or wind turbines. This gives solar a use all day and wind power a use at night as the battery pack will be charged by these methods. The battery will then be discharged first during the day saving the use of the national grid supply. 

National car parking app

The government should pass legislation that compels the owners of car parks to have one single app for paying for private car parking. The App should be owned by the government who get a small % of the charge levied.  

National roads and pavements. 

Each county should have a road gang that fixes roads and pavements.  These gangs will be furnished will all of the equipment needed and will have a number of trained and qualified road fixers. The rest of the gangs will be made up of a mixture of unemployed people who work on the road gangs whilst they are trying to find a job (in exchange for welfare), or non-violent prisoners serving jail sentences who can earn parole of one day for every day worked on a road gang.  

Road works, planning & licences. 

Every county will have a planning team for the counties roads. Each works will require a permit and set of coordinates to be published.  Every company with authorisation to dig roads up will have to obtain a permit first. Every organisation carrying out planned works, for instance, to install a new gas main, needs to promulgate this information centrally so that everyone can see what’s being done and then we can ‘share the hole’. Every hole dug will be mapped and any road repair that ultimately fails will require the hole to be repaired at their cost. 

Road humps.

All road humps will be removed except those that ‘defend’ school and zebra crossings where applicable. Road humps are storing up a huge problem for the NHS with a fifty fold increase in back related problems as a result of humps. Instead, where there is a real risk of danger when a vehicle is speeding, average speed cameras will be installed. Speed plus 5% will be the maximum tolerance. 

Speeding

Anyone caught speeding 4 times in any 12 months will have their car seized and crushed. 

Traffic light controlled crossings. 

All crossings in the country will have the same timing from the point of pressing the button to the lights changing. The crossing will be dynamic ie if it is a popular road the time between button activations and the lights changing will be increased. An extra phase will be added for pedestrians for all traffic light controlled junctions but this will not activate if no-one has pressed the button. 

Communication by the government

The Government Accountability Show

A one hour weekly slot on TV will be paid for by the government. In this time (8pm Tuesdays!) the government will explain exactly what it is trying to do, why it wants to do it, the cost of doing it and how it intends doing it. They will spend time explaining what each department of government does and what each quango does. A time slot will be given to reporting major projects and updates will be given on progress. The people responsible for these projects ie the project managers and the civil service coordinator for that project, will present what progress has been made. The most trusted person in GB will present the show (I think that’s Martin Lewis!) and will call out any bull***t on behalf of the British public.

Education of the public

This sounds very 1984 but it isn’t. This is about instructing the general public in how the country actually works and how things get paid for and also what the country actually spends tax payers cash on. By having a basic understanding of this it will help all governments when it is trying to change things. Education starts at school and government and cultural studies would be a mandatory subject (along with economics!).

Leaving school at 16

Up to 20,000 pupils may leave school at 16 if they wish to join the Army, Navy or Air Force, or an NHS Auxiliary service, for a fixed term period of 5 years. They have to take an aptitude test which will assess their academic ability unless they have grade 5 or above GCSE’s in Maths and English. In these 5 years they have a salary sacrifice option of £250 per month which will be matched by the government for a maximum of 5 years. If they serve the full 5 years they will receive their savings and the money given by the government tax free (£30k). If they fail to serve the full 5 years they get the money that they have saved back tax free but nothing from the government. Recruits will be paid the same as any serviceman and can pass promotion boards and exams. They may stay on after their initial 5 year term. In the long term the country will end up with many more military trained personnel from which to call on in time of emergency. 

Immigration

We will always need immigration, that’s a fact. But there is legal and illegal immigration.  

Legal immigration. 

First principal – if you aren’t here legally then you can’t stay. All persons wishing to enter the UK have to go via the immigration system and enter by legal means. If they are accepted to work or to study they must provide a £5,000 bond that is returnable if they leave and must have an address where they will live. Additionally they should evidence that they have enough money to support themselves whilst here or for a minimum period 6 months by depositing a lump sum (to be determined) in the ‘National Bank’ before being given a visa. If the person gets into serious trouble with the law they will lose their visa and be deported immediately, with their family if they brought one with them. They will not be entitled to any benefits and must carry proof of medical insurance or provide an annual NHS bond. After 5 years of tenure they can apply to become citizens of the UK but will not be entitled to a UK passport. Any children born during this time will not be entitled to dual nationality but will take the nationality of the mother. A right to family life will not apply in this country if an immigrant commits a serious crime and is ultimately deported. 

Illegal immigration.

Anyone arriving in the country illegally via non-official routes and with no documents to ascertain their identity and subsequently claiming asylum, will be detained at a detention centre. They will not be entitled to stay in the country and will be deported at the earliest opportunity. 

Recruitment of persons from abroad. 

Companies recruiting persons from abroad can sponsor a person through the immigration process and must submit a bond of £10k for each person. The bond is transferable if the person moves to another company. 

Any company or persons found to be employing an illegal immigrant or asylum seeker will be fined £20,000 for each person employed. Company directors who fold their companies to avoid this charge will be arrested, banned from running a company and personally fined the £20,000 or go to jail for 2 years. 

The National Health and Care Service

Organisation.

Every person will be assigned to a local hospital and a GP surgery. The hospitals and GP surgeries will be controlled on a county basis. Each county, depending on its population, will have the number of hospitals and GP doctors that are needed for that population.  All counties will have specialist service centres ie cancer treatment centres, paediatric hospitals, geriatric services. Services can be traded or shared between neighbouring counties. If you move house you will need to inform the NHCS authority that you are moving and register in the new area where you move to so that population can be tracked and records updated. 

Care Services

Care Services and the responsibility and budgets for them should be  removed from local councils.  Care services should be administered directly by the patients assigned hospital and assigned GP surgery, for the elderly and for physically disabled or incapacitated persons. An assessment will establish whether the elderly person can look after themselves and has mental capacity, the elderly that have mental capacity but are infirm temporarily, the elderly that have mental capacity but are infirm permanently, and the elderly that have not got mental capacity and will require full time nursing. They will then be placed in the appropriate setting or institution. A similar assessment would be made for physically disabled or incapacitated persons an appropriate care plans put in place but all tracked and managed by the hospital and local care service.   

Mental Health services

Mental Health Service would be established as part of the NHS and responsibility and budgets removed from local councils. The Mental Health service would provide treatment for mental health. It would start with a referral from the GP and then an assessment by the NMHS and then appropriate treatments given. Care in the community would still exist but patients that are suspected of not completing care treatments can be sectioned more easily. Additional secure mental health places will be provided on a country basis for mental health patients that form a threat to themselves or to others. 

National Health Auxiliary Service

All new trainees joining the nursing or care professions will first spend time in the National Health Auxiliary Service. This service will give all new recruits time spent in each of the various areas of the health service including the care sector and mental health services. Nurses will not require a degree as an entry qualification. An aptitude test and assessment will be carried out for entry level nursing. A minimum level of qualifications may be needed for advancement but can be obtained on the job (like task books were used in the Navy). Further qualifications may be needed for advancement to senior roles but study time will be given for this.

Doctor training

Trainee doctors will pay only 50% of their fees, the government will pay the rest. However, doctors trained in the NHS will be required to serve in the NHS for a minimum number of years after qualification. Should they take up private practice in this time then money should be paid back to the government. 

Nurses accommodation

Where any new buildings are erected on a hospital site, the lower part of the building should be for hospital purposes but additional floors should be built on top and appropriate, one bedroom flats built for nurses accommodation. Rent for these units will help to pay for the upkeep of the hospital.

GP’s (general practitioners)

All major hospitals with A&E facilities should have a walking wounded, separate Triage centre that is manned by doctors that come from each of the GP practices in the hospital area. For instance, in LBWF where I live there are 39 GP practices so, one doctor from each practice should attend the Triage centre each day meaning that it would be staffed by 39 doctors each day (including weekends). Their role would be to carry out initial triage so that minor injuries are dealt with straight away, time wasters similarly, and those needing immediate hospital attention by A&E are given access to the appropriate entity. 

Hospital Uber accounts

Every hospital should have an UBER account. People needing urgent hospital treatment, where they can make their own way to hospital but are incapacitated or cannot drive, can use the hospital UBER account, which would be cheaper and quicker than an ambulance. People calling ambulances, where it is obvious they are not needed, will be fined. 

Non NHS treatments

Elective cosmetic surgery, gender and other non-clinical treatments will be banned on the NHS. No gender reassignment surgery will be performed on any person under 18 years old and these treatments would have to be paid for privately.

Maternity services

Maternity services would have a complete overhaul. Dedicated Maternity hospitals would be established and staffed by McMillan Maternity nurses (public funded private nursing)

Friday night drunks.

Friday night drunks would not be treated free by the NHS – they would pay a fine of £200 if an ambulance is required and £200 for the bed for the night and their care. Anyone abusing NHS staff will be arrested once they are sober and face the magistrate with an automatic prison sentence for those committing assault. There should be zero tolerance to abusing NHS staff. Proceeds of all fines go to the hospital.

Hospital car parks

Multi storey car parks will be built at all major hospitals, funded by car parking charges. A % of charges will go to paying the capital cost and once paid back then all money raised in charges will go directly to the hospital. Hospitals will publish how it spends this money raised. 

Law and Order

Bill of Rights

A new bill of rights will be established and people breaking the law will be treated differently. The new bill of rights will strip convicts of their rights and replace them with a basic set of human rights (food, water, shelter). Any other rights would need to be earned. 

Sentencing

Some extreme crimes, where the perpetrator cannot be doubted, can carry the death sentence. Crimes like murder with violence or extreme neglect, causing the death of children, where the perpetrator cannot be doubted, can have the death sentence considered.

Sentences will be sentences. Parole will only be earned for good behaviour. Crimes against the person will attract automatic lengthy custodial sentences. This will include any crime committed using violence. Shoplifting, car theft, fraud against old (any) people, spiking of drinks, will attract an immediate custodial sentence as will violent affray and assault on any emergency worker.

Knife crime

All 11-year-old children will have a presentation at school by the police to ensure that everyone knows the consequences of carrying a knife. Anyone subsequently found carrying a knife, at any age, will get one warning and a suspended prison sentence of 12 months, no parole. If found carrying a knife a second time it will mean an automatic prison sentence of 5 years. Anyone found carrying a machete or similar zombie type weapon, will receive an automatic 5 year sentence, no parole. Anyone, of any age, using a knife to threaten or actually harming another person will get a minimum 5 years sentence. Stop and search will be brought back and extended. 

Prison

Perpetrators of violent crimes will go to Cat A jails – if they behave then fine, if not then solitary confinement. All violent crimes perpetrated against children or elderly people will be sentence plus 5 years. Crimes that do not involve violence can be assessed and the perpetrators sentence can be carried out in ‘working prisons’ or in the community.

Shoplifting

Anyone caught shoplifting will be given one warning. Further offences will attract prison sentences.

The Civil Battalions

Each town and city should have 600 men and women that can be called on to help in times of civil emergency or natural disaster. Each person would be kept on a retainer say £50 a month on condition that they meet once a month for a few hours to be trained and can be called up if needed. All persons will be trained in first aid, basic fire and rescue, policing and emergency reaction to natural disasters like floods or fires.

Child abusers.

Anyone sexually or physically abusing children should go to prison and names kept on a register for life. Paedophiles sharing indecent pictures of children should go to prison and names kept on a register for life. Anyone with any indecent images of children on any device that they own should go to prison and names kept on a register for life. Prison sentences should start at 5 years for any sexual offence against a child. 

Energy & Environment

Solar panels and car parks

All large car parks owned by supermarkets, out of town shopping centre’s, stadia, multi storey car park roofs etc will have solar panels erected above them, before we use any more farmland. If we can put solar panels on virgin farmland then we can put houses underneath them! Surely it is easier to connect urban car parks to the grid without then having to pay for more pylons? 

Solar panels and other suitable sites. 

Companies with large buildings that may be suitable for solar panels should be incentivised to install them. If they cannot afford it then the government will pay for them and keep the revenue generated from them. 

Cost of green energy vs other forms of energy.

The way we procure energy as a country should be examined as at present no-one is sure what the true cost of green energy vs other forms of energy actually is. True subsidies will be published by an independent group headed by someone everyone trusts.

Full time use of wind turbines. 

No onshore wind turbines should be approved unless there is something that the energy they produce can be used for, when the energy they are producing is not needed (ie at night). This should mean much cheaper energy (according to the government) locally and should then negate the need for any subsidies. This should attract more businesses to places where onshore energy generation exists. 

Zoning of electricity charges should be introduced. Scotland has a lot of capacity and so should be able to run on wind power alone and this should be a lot cheaper (according to the government) than other electricity. In the south we need more electricity and so more renewables should be constructed in the south and thus we won’t have to extend the electricity grid. See car parks above. 

Net Zero act will be repealed and replaced after proper consultation with the general public. 

Recycling

No recycled materials would be allowed to be shipped abroad. Everything would have to recycled in this country. Plastic bags issued in the supermarket would cost £1 rising to £5 each, everyone would then remember their bags. Container return points would be supplied in all supermarkets and they would be worth 10p for each container returned – ie metal cans, aluminum cans, wine bottles, beer bottles, plastic milk bottles etc. 10p would be charged on each tin can, aluminum can, wine bottle, beer bottle, plastic milk bottle etc that is sold.

Everything we buy needs to be redesigned so that it can be easily disassembled and recycled. All manufacturers will have to have recycling plants attached to their factories so that goods made there can be returned to them for recycling.

Gambling

Premium bond prizes.

These would be increased in both number of prizes and size of prizes to encourage more people to put their money into bonds. 

National Lottery.

The current way of distributing money raised by the lottery would be scrapped. Instead a small lottery awards committee would put its proposals in front of a different group ‘The 100’ (see above) each month to have spending approved. Some items would always be fixed items, for instance all council run public sports and leisure facilities would be funded by the lottery before anything else. 

Gambling.

A 20% tax will be placed on all gambling winnings. 

Community

Chewing gum.

A 200% tax should be placed on chewing gum, to help clear up the mess it leaves when its spat out. Fines of £1000 should be levied on anyone caught spitting out chewing gum onto the pavement. 

Free labour.

Prisoners coming to the end of their sentence for non-violent crimes can opt for day release into the community to carry out work in the community. 

Business.

Starting a business. 

Any business owner that employs more than 50 staff on their books will pay 50% less personal tax. Owners that employ more than 100 people won’t pay any income tax at all. 

County based business hubs will be set up to advertise both contracts being tendered and job vacancies that their businesses may have in the county. The business hubs will have a register of all businesses in their area so that they can work with local schools and colleges to provide skills allied to the industries in that areas.

VAT reductions.

Contracts awarded to local companies by local businesses will attract a 5% VAT discount for smaller businesses (under £1m turnover) and 10% discount for larger businesses (over £1m turnover). Contracts awarded to national contractors will attract the full VAT rate. (Trying to encourage local employment). 

Business development.

A business ‘greenhouse’ or greenhouses, will be set up in each county. The ‘greenhouse’ will be both a physical space where new businesses can hire office space on an ad hoc or permanent basis and where meeting facilities can be rented – and a place where investers in small business can lodge their interests to provide seed funding to new businesses, rather than having to go to a bank initially. It is also where entrepreneurs can seek advice and assistance and have access to other business services that may be required. 

Education

Degree courses

The cost of degree courses will depend on how many face to face lectures any given course will have and which will be promulgated for each year. The more face to face time, the more can be charged up to a maximum of £10,000 per year. STEM courses will be a maximum of £5000 per year to encourage more people to do these courses. 

Taking children out of school in term time

Parents will be allowed to take children out of school during term time for holiday purposes for a maximum of one week per term. Instead of fining the parents, the parents will pay the school (£150, which goes to the school) per pupil for the preparation of a worksheet that the child will be required to complete whilst on holiday, so as not to fall behind. Failure to complete the work satisfactorily will negate the privilege of term time absence in the future. A note will be kept on the record of the child for the time taken off during term time in order to measure the effect that this has on the child’s overall education outcomes. 

Private schools and academies

Private schools and academies will be kept with the current rules governing these institutions retained. VAT will not be levied on these institutions. Annual educational outcome measurements will be required by law published on a county-by-county basis for these establishments. 

School curriculums

A national curriculum will exist for (60%) of the time at school, consisting of maths, English, science, history, geography, AI and economics. The headteacher will be responsible for the remaining 40% of the curriculum that children are taught. This will allow the school to work with local businesses to establish the kind of qualifications needed for their businesses in the local area. All school curriculums will be published so that parents can see what lessons their children are being taught.

Aptitude tests

Rather than just SATS testing and GCSE’s, a National Educational Aptitude Test will be developed which will include maths, English, problem solving, physical skills and social skills. This will assist in understanding a pupils development in terms other than just purely academic subjects and could help identify or influence the academic or vocational path followed by a pupil at an earlier age.

Mobile phones in schools.

Will be banned during the school day for all pupils in all schools. Phones will be locked away when arriving on site and collected when leaving.

Defence

Trident nuclear deterrent

Trident would be scrapped but the nuclear capability retained and transferred to cruise missiles carried either on warships or on land launchers or aircraft. There would be a maximum of 100 warheads. This would save about £35b on development of the next generation of SSBN submarines and £2b a year operating costs, but would still provide a nuclear deterrent.  

Technology 

Social media.

Companies that allow sexual images of children on their platforms will be fined £20,000 for every instance it is discovered. They will soon stop it from happening. 

Social media will be banned for children up until the age of 16. 

Safe social media

A safe social media site will be established where every person using the system has been vetted. This is not done to restrict free speech, this is to keep youngsters safe until they are of an age when it is considered they can make their own judgement. (16).