The Landfill Communities Fund is at risk. The Landfill Tax A landfill tax was introduced in 1996 and has been very successful in reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill. It has been a big help in driving more recycling. The tax is paid by the waste companies who have contracts with local authorities and businesses. These Landfill Operators pay £84 per tonne of waste they deposit in the ground. And HM Treasury receives around £1.3 billion in tax revenues. The Landfill Communities Fund Most brilliantly of all, Landfill Operators can choose to re-direct part of their tax bill to local communities near landfill sites rather than paying it to the Treasury. In 2016-17 they can divert 90p of every £25 of tax they owe; so long as £1 goes to a community project. The local community normally fundraises for the missing 10p in every pound. To date, most Operators have jumped at the chance to do this and since 1996 local communities near landfill sites have been able to invest over £1.4 billion in 51,000 projects. These projects have had an amazing impact on Churches and Community groups: from building extensions to Churches, to providing resources to start-up play groups, to funding community wildlife projects, etc. there is no doubt that both our Churches and local communities are richer for the help they have received. HOWEVER the scheme is under threat. Urgent action is required to ensure local community projects don’t lose £39 million every year. The Threat The Government is proposing to change the legislation so that Community Groups are no longer allowed to pay the missing 10p. Instead only Landfill Operators would be allowed to pay this. This may seem a small detail but it would in fact close down the scheme as we know it. This is because the scheme is a voluntary one – and the cost to a Landfill Operator of having to find the 10p match funding would be significant. One major operator estimates this would amount to it having to find £500,000 of additional money each year. As a result, nearly all the main landfill operators have said they will not be able to find such money. They would therefore stop using the system of tax credits. Yet Churches and local community groups have found this missing 10p in the pound time and time again. Finding match funding has never been a barrier to spending from the Landfill Communities Fund - in fact it is already oversubscribed at least twofold. So, for no good reason, Churches and Community groups stand to lose millions (£39m in 2016-17 to be precise). And the country stands to lose a great ‘polluter pays’ scheme that is one of the biggest sources of funding for community projects. More Background In light of the economic conditions, the Treasury has been keen to ensure that the Landfill Community Fund is spent as quickly as possible - to pump money in to the economy. The Treasury therefore challenged Landfill Community Fund bodies to reduce the amount of grant funds they were holding in their banks. Most funders met the challenge, with a minority failing to largely because of funds committed for longer term projects not yet being released. But despite their efforts the Treasury’s overall spending target was not met. The Treasury was not happy and so last year HMRC ran a consultation asking for ideas for increasing the speed of spending. Some of respondents to the 2015 consultation highlighted the regulatory bureaucracy around the 10p for every pound they were finding. Others said it would be great not to have to fundraise for this 10p at all. No-one said they would prefer nothing to a 90% grant for their project. Yet these consultation responses are being used by the Treasury to justify the new proposals - proposals which would all but close down the scheme. How you can help Write to your local M.P. expressing your concern about the potential loss of the Landfill Communities Fund, asking your M.P. to raise this matter with the Exchequer Secretary of the Treasury, Damian Hinds M.P. urging him to allow local communities to continue to cover the 10% third party contribution. or Respond to the Treasury consultation on the statutory instrument, as proposed by HMRC and required to implement the changes. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-legislation-the-landfill-tax-amendment-regulations-2016. The deadline is 3 February 2016. The clauses in the statutory instrument that related to this change that should be removed are – clauses 6,8(a,bii,biii,c,&d), 9 and 10.

Queen Square is one of the finest Georgian Squares in Europe and was restored with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2007. The idea was to re-establish “peace and breathing space” in this part of the city allowing us, our children and visitors to enjoy the tranquility, nature and freedom of the park. Since 2008 Bristol City Council have developed a programme of events and activities which now fully occupy the square from March through to late October. These events create a negative impact on the square, with increased risk to the park landscape and it’s heritage features. These events are also contrary to the original standards agreed with the Heritage Lottery Fund. The square now can only be used as a green park during the winter months effectively denying children, all Bristolians and visitors use of the park unless they are prepared to pay for the privilege during spring, summer and autumn. Erection and dismantling of these events turns the Georgian Square into a construction site. Restricting and preventing access to customers and employees of businesses on the square and neighbouring streets. Residents’ lives are blighted not only by the chaos and noise caused during the construction but also by noise & disturbance created by the events which continue until the early hours. We the Friends of Queen Square are asking Bristol City Council to reduce the number of events and restore Queen Square to a safe, quiet and peaceful haven that all Bristolians, local residents, businesses and visitors can enjoy throughout the year. We need YOUR SUPPORT! Please sign this petition and show local and wider community support for this initiative.

Some say there is no alternative but Rochdale Borough Council could use just a portion of its £169.6m in useable reserves to avoid making the £37m worth of cuts over the next two years. Even the Government suggest that ‘local authorities lessen the impact of budget cuts by tapping into their huge reserve pots’ – Telegraph, 31st August. We call on the Labour group on Rochdale Borough Council to take these steps whilst councillors go out into the communities, workplaces and trade union branches to build support for a no-cuts budget and have a genuine consultation with the people of Rochdale. They could then make an appeal to other Labour councils to do the same, making the Tory government’s savage cuts unworkable. Jeremy Corbyn said in his election campaign that councils should stand together against the cuts. This is the direction that the Labour Party must go in to end austerity and safeguard our public services.

Take a look at the video and see what this local green space means to people: https://youtu.be/q6LHopGajd4

I have seen more and more so called reporters think they can throw out any type of fabricated story... even if its racist and has no real truth to the people of great britain without first thinking about the british public and the impact of how the global community will see how the british media are behaving in the war to warp the minds and hearts of the day to day british citizen, through racist propaganda. i am now sick and tired of seeing good decent british men / women and families having to be branded a nation of racist bigots by what i call ''fascist dictator reporters'' . To demonize a people ( west papuans ) who as you all read this are being quietly murdered in a planed genocide , no thanks to the lack of intervention from the e.u. and u.s. would like you all to sign this petition to collectively as a strong british nation, eject nick parker out of his job and to give a real true investigative reporter the chance to make the global community see how great britain still is great... and not just a nation of racist ignorant fools that eat any type of racist propaganda and redress the balance of proper reporting. As a shining example of a true great nation that is fair and balanced in our reports on other nations. Please sign this petition and help me put the great back in british journalism / reporting

Because the legacy and reputation built over the years that make the BBC one of the most credible media organisations on the planet, was done so with public funding. This legacy should therefore not be in the hands of profit driven organisations that would only destroy it after cashing in on our investment.

With all the mobile networks claiming 99% population coverage for mobile phone signal why is only 63% of the UK land mass covered by signal. Over 4500 miles of UK roads have no mobile phone coverage at all. This is not only dangerous but it is stifling development in rural areas and holding back local businesses. The government have an arrangement with the 4 main UK networks to spend £5bn by the end of 2017 to improve this but they have already come up against issues themselves with planning permission, un-co-operative landlords, site access and power to the sites. If we can make enough noise to make them realise how important this is to our communities then they will make the necessary changes needed to push through these plans. If we don't? We can see the 2017 deadline come and go and very little will change apart from 4g coverage in cities getting faster and faster.

It's absolutly vital that all waterways are drained correctly and if the outfall being ditches or rivers are not clear and dredged fields flood and overwhelm the rivers causing them to breach their banks and flood defenses causing havoc and damage to property's, animal livelihood in flash floods and extra costs reinstating burst flood banks which could all be avoided if dredging of rivers and ditches were carried out yearly, it's such a simple process which could save massive costs in repairs and insurance claims.

Members of the public find it difficult to support a political party 100%. Our system is out of date, our MPs out of touch, the public go unheard. We agree with points made by the Lib Dems, the Conservatives, Labour, the Green Party, the SNP etc and sometimes we disagree with them all. Either way we can't communicate with the government effectively. The system needs to work for us all but instead it's dusty, nobody really understands it or cares to sort it out with any long term vision. We need to start again. Simplify. Direct questions, direct answers. If regular referendums were to take place, the public are truly part of the process, allowing us to demonstrate what we care about, that we're united and want to invest in the future of this land and it's people. Less moaning and more doing, having a proactive and fair say, feeling satisfied that the decisions are being made and supported by the majority of the UK. Let the UK public vote for their future. This Kingdom can then begin to feel proud and respected, and most importantly, united.

Becasue she is a dangerous and poisonous human being who goes against the basic values that this country should actually stand for in the world. Also because Donald Trump seems to think she is a respected journalist who speaks the truth and believes her outrageously divisive opinions "which she has to a deadline each week" (Charlie Brooker, Weekly Wipe, BBC2, 2015) are reasonable and make sense.

Because your first one is awesome, and you need to write more.

James Clerk Maxwell stands beside Einstein and Newton in the trinity of physicists who explained how the universe works. The other two are global superstars, but Maxwell is barely known in his own country, Scotland. To celebrate a great man and encourage future generations to take risks and think big, Maxwell should be the face on the next RBS banknote. The greatest Scotsman to ever live deserves to be a household name.