HA! whatever it is , they can whistle for it, I am happy to pay what I owe, but I am jiggered if I am going to role over and be shafted on a computers say so/:jaw:

I started back to work almost exactly two years ago, before I went back i tried to claim Jobseekers allowance as it was then, but, as I wasnt working in the test period, I was ineligable. So, this January, I received a letter from HRMC, stating that they know I have received in excess of £3k in Jobseekers Allowance and now I am going to be given the priviledge of paying the tax on it . Hang on a mo, I never received a penny, so I call them to clarify. Oh yes Miss Lula, we know you claimed, we just ESTIMATED how much you received. YOU DID WHAT?? you have computers don't you? Surely the computer that told you that I claimed, also told you that i didn't receive a penny? Err, No Miss Lula, our computers dont really talk to each other, we have to estimate. Me, incredulous. So you are allowed to MAKE IT ALL UP, and I have to prove that I have received it or not? That, it appears is the long and the short of it, but , my story doesnt stop there, oh no ! It takes them 5 weeks to respond to any letter, so, not being blessed with a great amount of patience I ring them this afternoon. Firstly, it took 15 minutes to get through to a "human" voice and then, he goes through my note and confirms that, yes, they received my letter and the letter THAT I HAD TO GET, from the Benefits Agency, confirming that I had received no benefits from them. So, I said to him, my tax code for 2013/14 is going to be 944L . Err no, Miss Lula it will be 943L For why? I ask, we have established that I owe you no money, why is my tax code stating that I owe you £1. Well Miss Lula, it is the way the computer reckons it, it rounds up or down. So, I say, this is the same computer that cannot talk to another computer within the great Behemoth is the Welfare State? Yes, he replies. No, say I. I do not owe you £1 and i would like my tax code to reflect this, i want the full 944L. Errrrrr, he says, i will have to pass this on to a supervisor. Thats fine by me says I , but I mean to have the proper tax coding and have it I will. I find it totally unacceptable that you can make up figures and them expect me to roll over meekly and pay it. Watch this space, I expect a letter soon, i will not be expecting anything other that my 944L bastards

My problem, as I have already stated, is that this is the thin edge of the wedge, surrepticiously placed, if we allow this then were does it end, and , if you REALLY want to know, my child has had 2.5 days off at the end of the last term due to norovirus, his only time off school in 2 years. !

How dare you make a judgement on me, you dont know me at all, if you have nothing constructive to say than I suggest you say nothing! False outrage, I can assure you that there is nothing false about my outrage, you may consider it ok to be ordered around and fined "will he nill he" but I can assure you that i will fight against anyone or anything who presumes to have that sort of power over me or my family. The penalty parking charges started like this too, not going too well at the moment is it, also, bank charges, hmmmm I am sensing a pattern here.

Well, you are entitled to your opinion, my opinion is that it wont stop parents taking their children out for a holiday as they will be able to afford the fine, the trouble will come with the parents who come from a lower socio economic background, they wont be able to afford the fines and it is these children that will be more likely to be ill or not fully understand the reason why reasonable attendance is necessary. The other reason is that , why the hell should an Education Authority be given the power to fine someone for the non attendance at school, where will it end? and 21 periods of absence is 10.5 school days, not really much when you consider the incidence over the past few years of norovirus and swine flu.

Thanks for that, the main thing that I got was that it is only applicable in England, once again, we get clobbered. ! Ihave had an acknowledgement from the Chair of Governors saying that he will get back to me when he has spoken to the school.

I am heartily sick of being told what to do and whn to do it, especially by a school, they should realise that the kids have two extra years of school now, so plenty of time to impart the knowledge required.

Have sent a letter to the Chair of Governors, dont know if it is actually a FOI request, but should get them thinking about this for a while. I am writing to you as Chair of the Board of Governors of xxxx Primary School to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. If a Freedom of Information request in not relevant to a board of Governers then I would still appreciate the information listed. I have been given to understand that the school is considering using its powers under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 to issue fixed penalty notices for non attendance. Please send me all the information the school holds relating to the development of this policy. I would expect to receive information such as: Presentations to the Board of Governors on the policy Minutes of the Board of Governors discussions of the policy Documents generated by school staff discussing this policy (including emails) Advice sought and received from people or organisations outside the school but would be grateful to receive any additional addition information held as well. My preference is to receive this information by email but if any of this information can only be supplied on paper I will make arrangements to receive physical copies. I understand that you have 20 working days to respond to this request and so I expect to receive your response on or before Monday 4th February 2013. If there is a possibility of the response being delayed please contact me as soon as this becomes apparent. If any of the above is unclear please come back to me with questions. I would be grateful for an acknowledgement that you have received this email by return. Yours sincerely

Thanks for that, so I guess the key word here is Consistency, it cannot be just a few schools, it has to be all or nothing.

Hi Night Owl, this is what I am trying to ascertain. It is scandalous !

Hello Everyone, I have no idea where to post this, I am also INCANDESCENT, got this from the school yes, a SCHOOL , today " Dear Parents/Carers FIXED PENALTY NOTICES The Behaviour and Attendance Team see Fixed PenaltyNotices as an effective part of XXXX School’sdrive to improve attendance, reduce unauthorised absences and raise standards. Fixed Penalty Notices are supported by both theLocal Authority and the DfE and we understand that several local schools haveadopted this approach. The GoverningBody of XXXX have agreed to introduce a system of Fixed Penalty Noticesfrom the start of the Summer Term 2013, ie. week commencing Monday 15thApril 2013. Fixed Penalty Notices will be issued to studentswith 21 or more sessions of unauthorisedabsences in the current and/or previous terms. (One session is either 1 morning or 1afternoon, 2 sessions equates to one day and 21 sessions equates to 2 weeks andone morning or afternoon etc). Thismeans: · Afine of £60.00, if paid within 28 days · Afine of £120.00, if paid within 42 days PleaseNote: Non-payment of fines can lead to prosecution. An unauthorised absence is when: · Your child arrives late, after the register hasclosed. · We have not received notification of absence. · A term time holiday has taken place. · No evidence is provided, if requested by school (whenattendance is an ongoing concern, eg. persistently below 85%, the SeniorLeadership Team will meet with you and ask you for medical evidence eg.prescriptions and / or appointment slips). In light of these changes, we are currently in theprocess of updating our attendance policy which will be published to you. We will be reminding you of the new systemthroughout this term, but please remember that this new system will not startuntil next term. ATTENDANCE/PUNCTUALITY Our whole school attendance figure for last term (3rdSeptember to 19th December 2012) was 94.7% and Ofsted would gradethis as “Requires Improvement”. This isnot a good situation to be in. However, we are mindful that attendance wasseverely affected during December by the high number of families suffering fromthe winter sickness bug and all the cough/cold type viruses. If we exclude December’s figures, ourattendance percentage between September and November 2012 was 95.7% whichOfsted would grade as “Good” – just a small percentage below Outstanding. We were Outstanding at the end of the firsthalf term and are hoping to get back there as quickly as possible. Please find below punctuality figures for the firstand second half of the Autumn Term 2012/13, plus the attendance figures for thewhole term. Wehave published these figures which include all absences including holidays,medical appointments and illness etc. Wefully understand and appreciate that, unfortunately, within some classes,children have serious ongoing medical conditions which obviously inflate thefigures. TERM TIME HOLIDAYS 2011- 2012 (1st Sept to 23rd Dec 2011) 2012 – 2013 (3rd Sept to 19th Dec 2012) 67 children = 483 sessions missed 90 children - 669 sessions missed With regards to attendance, both the Leadership Teamat XXX and our School Attendance Improvement Officer will be focusingmore on the number of incidents of absence, ie. the odd days off “here andthere” compared with 1 bout ofillness. The minimum expectation is that children attend school for 95%of the time. Children are classed aspersistent absentees once their attendance drops below 85% and unfortunately,it only takes two or three incidents of absence (holidays, medical appointmentsand illness etc) to affect overall attendance percentages to this degree. Obviously, we are not advocating that yousend your poorly child into school, but if they are simply “under the weather”,then please consider sending them in. The children have responsibilities and commitments to their learningjust the same as adults do in their daily lives. It is a major concern of ours to see how many termtime holidays are being taken. There isa significant increase on the same period last year. We fully appreciate how much cheaper holidaysare during term-time and in the current, ever worrying financial climate, wecan understand why parents make this decision. However, we still cannot authorise these absences; school is importantand the pace of the day is rapid, the children do miss a lot when they are awayand it could even mean an entire topic or aspect of one subject is completelymissed. Poor attendance can severelyaffect attainment and progress (see attached document), and always rememberthat primary school is just as important as secondary school. The impact on GCSE results as outlinedoverleaf is the same as SATS in Years 2 and 6. Please remember that we want to support you in ensuringyour children achieve good attendance and punctuality. If there is anything at all that we can do asa school to assist you, please do not hesitate to pop in for a chat, we wouldbe pleased to see you. Yours sincerely" I would dearly love to hear what law says that they can charge a penalty notice and how this is enforcable.

But it is not actually the law that it "has" to be read? Dont get me wrong, I am not cheating or damaging the meter in any way, I just dislike letting people that I dont know into my garage.

obviously I mean "read" not red

Have just had a call from npower asking me for a meter reading over the phone, I told them that I would do it tomorrow as A) I dont know who she is and b) it is FREEZING outside so I wont be going outside until I have to. I said to her that the meter reader was so rude the other day that I wont be letting anyone I dont know, read the meter anymore, she then told me that my meter HAs to be read by LAW, oh really? Can anyone confirm this? ta very much:smile:

Hiya, strangers, I have just copied the FSA REgs and composed a short and sweet letter to Barclays, with said regs, just in case, for my daughter, will let you all know how I get on.

I suppose what I need to know is, how can they say that she has been overpaid when she has had what they offered for the time that she was there? and , can they demand this back, knowing that she is unemployed?

HAHA, i am not, but she is, just told her not to answer the door unless she knows who it is

Hello All, long time no see my daughter was at university and dropped out this year. She has been unwell and unemployed and have sent a few letters saying that they have overpaid her by about £600 and are demanding it back, the latest tome came this morning and now they are threatening her with debt collectors. Is there any advice that you can give? Thanks in advance.

Wotcha BO, and how could I EVER go off you Scott? or Lexy LOL X

Hellloooooooooooooooo

Sorry, people shouldnt go away with the impression that because they have comprehensive insurance that they can drive another vehicle, you can only drive another vehicle under your insurance IF your policy says so. It isnt a "standard".

Can you explain to me why, if you have Comprehensive insurance, a large number of people are able to drive your car?

More brain cells that most of us put together? really? I hardly think so. Before you judge someone, walk a mile in their shoes first!

you put it so much more eloquently than I ever could Sheddy

As Mr Shed has stated, you do not have an obligation to this landlord as you do not have a valid address in the uk, if you want this other house, then take it, make sure that you read all metres, and photograph so that there can be so comebacks, also, take lots of pictures of the house so that she cannot try and blame you, I would also send any further correspondence as "return to sender, not known at this address". check the Electoral register to make sure that she isnt registered at that address, if she is, inform them that she lives abroad and that she has for X years. Lastly, do not leave her your forwarding address. oh, and do not pay her another penny, I guarantee that the deposit you paid isnt protected, but without a UK address, how are they going to prosecute?