Can you name one area where things are working better than 13 years ago.

No I can’t how ever hard I try. I get so depressed at the way our country has been absolutely ravaged by this government. This morning I was depressing myself even more by reading about “Freeport’s” and worrying about what will happen to Dartmoor and the New Forest if the plans go ahead. Apparently we can’t find out as the planning is commercially sensitive. But the fact that planning laws will be put aside in these designated areas should set off every alarm bell in the country.

The challenge for the day

Renewable energy - there must be others.

Not sure that the Tories can claim that one. My home village has had wind power for decades -

The government has invested £37 million to date - a drop In the ocean compared to the money given to their cronies for rubbish PPE etc.

Banking.

I’m racking my brains here, even my Wi-Fi is worse!

This is very specific to my field but we are better at identifying possible autism and other additional needs in children than we were 13 years ago. Unfortunately waiting lists for assessment and diagnosis have lengthened beyond recognition.

Katie59

The challenge for the day

Renewable energy - there must be others.

How has that improved Katie? The government has cancelled the subsidies, so growth in the domestic area seems to have shrunk.

I hope we are using less carbon-based power, but I don't know if that is true. I can have a Ten Point Plan or "proposed" reforms. However, I would love to know the positive things that have happened rather than just been talked about over the last 13 years.

NotAGran55

Banking.

It is better in some ways NotAGran55 but it seems to be better for the fraudsters too.

Galaxy

This is very specific to my field but we are better at identifying possible autism and other additional needs in children than we were 13 years ago. Unfortunately waiting lists for assessment and diagnosis have lengthened beyond recognition.

So, would it be fair to say that, like banking, those running the service are improving it but, because government isn't doing their job, it is failing overall?

It’s another grey, rather chilly day here DaisyAnne and I accept it’s not improving my mood.
I can’t think of anything that’s improved in the past 13 years. I suppose I could point to increased recognition of the links between physical and emotional health. The immediate downside though, is the devastation of our nhs and other public services that could help people.

Galaxy

This is very specific to my field but we are better at identifying possible autism and other additional needs in children than we were 13 years ago. Unfortunately waiting lists for assessment and diagnosis have lengthened beyond recognition.

Is that a result of any government intervention?

The positive answers (thank you!) seem to be showing people getting on with what they are doing are trying and succeeding to improve their area which does cheer me up. But with so little positive help from the system that is our government, it is all such a struggle to have actual progress.

I do also wonder whether people personally feel things have improved in their lives, although that may be asking too many questions in one post

Simple stuff that is automated seems to have improved, say like a driving license renewal, or change of status etc.
Where it all gets complicated is when there's too many boxes, too much information, too many hoops. That's just life I think. But it's not progress.

I can think of one thing - getting a passport photo in the Asda booth, and being able to link it instantly online via a code (or whatever it was) to your application.
New passport arrived within a week - admittedly it wasn’t during a busy period!

That's quite a complex question Maisie I wouldnt have said so but I suppose you could argue that professionals are more informed via research (say on girls with autism) which leads to improved identification. The other issue is identifying needs doesnt mean there are enough staff to support the children etc etc.

Oh, and another relatively minor thing I know, but being able to pay postage online and print off labels for two extremely heavy parcels, which our postman then collected - rather than having to lug them to the PO and queue.

Oh online

Oops. Online shopping, online meetings, and so on have improved beyond recognition, but that's pandemic led so to speak.

The internet,online shopping video calls,mobiles that can send you videos,youtube.

The state education my grandchildren are getting now is far better than that provided in state schools when my children were their age.

I know there ar endless problems in education at the moment, but the level of education and attainment has risen.

The same with renewable energy. Yes, governent hasn't always been helpful, but we are one of the leading countries in acting to reduce emissions
The UK has already been successful in enabling economic growth alongside taking climate change action. Since 1990, the UK’s economy has grown by around 75% while greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by 44%. Analysis suggests that, so far, taking action on climate change earlier than other countries has not limited the UK’s economic success. By leading in markets for new, less-polluting products, the country can instead set an example of the way to a low-carbon future.
www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/publications/climate-change-faqs/what-are-the-worlds-countries-doing-about-climate-change/

I can think of one thing - wifi reception. It was terrible where I am 13 years ago, I’m not laying the praise at the government’s door, but it is 100% better now.

Food banks are better

DaisyAnne

Katie59

The challenge for the day

Renewable energy - there must be others.

How has that improved Katie? The government has cancelled the subsidies, so growth in the domestic area seems to have shrunk.

I hope we are using less carbon-based power, but I don't know if that is true. I can have a Ten Point Plan or "proposed" reforms. However, I would love to know the positive things that have happened rather than just been talked about over the last 13 years.

Sorry you hadn’t noticed that we are using up to 60%
renewable electricity, conserving gas during those times or that solar is now much cheaper. Some schemes allow you to export to grid a peak rates, at 10am today we were only using 25% from gas.

“The same with renewable energy. Yes, government hasn't always been helpful, but we are one of the leading countries in acting to reduce emissions”

Yes we do lead in emissions reduction but we now import more of what we consume, we have exported much of our pollution, to China, Korea, Germany and others.