CaterEd is an award winning not for profit cooperative between local schools and Plymouth council which has provided high quality meals to our schools and pensioners for over a decade. They supported vulnerable children and adults through covid and Plymouth City Council should be celebrating their achievements, not shutting them down. For many of the poorest children in our city, those meals are a vital service and in many cases the only hot meal they will get each day. The Labour Government say they want to reduce child poverty and that starts with good quality, regular food.

Two essential civic functions are threatened with abolition by the Reform administration of Kent County Council. These are:  Public libraries: every civilised society needs a modern public library for the education and pleasure of all ages Waste disposal centres ('Tips') are being closed in some areas, risking fly-tipping, rats and the failure of recycling to which our country is committed. Many people are cynical about this County Council, but they have the ability to wreak enormous harm on  our civil society, built up over generations, by 'savings' to avoid proper taxation of the better-off in our County. They will suffer, but it is the least well-off who will suffer the most.  If you want your children to read and learn, if you want to do local research, if you want to master IT, if you just want to read the newspapers and magazines , or run small group meetings - come to our Kent Library Service. If you rely on a regular 'trip to the tip' for items the District  Council will not collect, you will appreciate of very efficient Waste Disposal Centres.

We feel it is a double outrage that those who have given their all to this country in taxes and raising children through their lives, have to pay a TV licence fee and are only exempt if they receive means-tested Pension Credit. When Pensions Credit has poverty traps where claimants only have to be one  penny over the means test threshold, and claimants get nothing. Meanwhile, BBC pundits and TV show host draw huge salaries that are funded by the poorest in people in our country.  This is immoral.  And part of an ever widening rich and poor divide in this country. The government have taken away winter fuel payments.  The BBC have been allowed to take away the free TV licence from the over 75's. The State pension is worth a miserly 27 of the national average wage.  Something has to be done to help our 12 million pensioners.  These people are our Grandparents.  

Bristol has over 22,000 households on the social housing waiting list. Selling existing ones and not building the new council housing Bristol needs will only mean the waiting list bigger and have people waiting for longer. We are in a housing crisis – the council needs to act like it. By law, the council can only invest council tenants’ rent into improving our homes or building new ones. Selling council housing and refusing to build the council homes Bristol needs means less money for repairs and improvements, more people on the housing waiting list waiting for longer, and higher temporary accommodation bills for the taxpayer.

Libraries provide a crucial service to the city, not least for the worst-off. Our valued community spaces need to be protected and invested in. Libraries need more investment, not less. Sources: Row over potential Bristol library closures as taskforce launches | Bristol Live Bristol libraries face closure as city council plans to cut budget in half - Bristol Live Appendix A1 - Draft General Fund Savings Proposals.pdf

The Green Party-led Bristol City Council is currently planning to scrap your bi-weekly bin collection, and instead only collect your black bins once a month. Yet, they are also proposing a 15% rise in council tax – adding £245 to the bills of the average household. Bristolians shouldn’t have to pay more and get less. Missed collections are already a problem across Bristol. These problems need to be fixed first. Under these plans, if someone misses their monthly collection, they will have rubbish in their house for a whole extra month before the next bin collection. This could lead to increases in fly-tipping – which is already a scourge across our city. Monthly bin collection will have a disproportionate impact on larger families and households. As well as this, parents know how quickly new-borns’ nappies fill up their black bins – this especially isn’t workable for them. Bristol has the highest recycling rate of the English Core Cities. To improve recycling rates further, the council needs to improve the recycling services offered to include additional materials, like nappies and soft plastics, and ensure that all residents that live in flats have an equal opportunity to recycle, which is currently hit and miss. Monthly black bin collections won’t work. Let the Green Party know – no to monthly black bin collections. Sources: Bristol black bin collections 'could be reduced to once a month' - BBC News Bristol City Council opens consultation over 15% council tax rise - BBC News

Kirklees Council is planning to dispose of many assets to help overcome its £47 million black hole. Part of this plan would involve closing the Grade II listed Batley Carnegie Library, and operating a “modern library” service from the Town Hall. This would enable the council to sell the original library building. The money to build Batley Library was donated to the people of Batley by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, and the plot of land for the library was donated by the William Akroyd Foundation, also to the people of Batley. This enabled the building of the iconic library which opened in 1907 and which still dominates the Market Place today, an area which is widely acknowledged as a gem of late Victorian/early Edwardian architecture and a superb legacy for future generations. With its towering illuminated clockfaces, the Batley Carnegie Library building acts as a beacon of inspiration, comfort and familiarity to the residents of Batley, and as a proud reminder of their heritage and hope for the future. Batley Library’s inviting atmosphere has established a place where people have created memories, nurtured long-lasting friendships, and helped build Batley’s strong community spirit. Moving the library, even for such a short distance, would damage this precious legacy. Thanks to the building’s superb design, it is still fit for purpose and perfectly suited to the twenty-first century, accommodating the traditional lending and reference library services and a great deal more besides. The modern library is so much more than a book depository, it now hosts many activities, local groups, performances, displays, and community services, both regular and ad-hoc, for adults and for children. Many of these activities can take place simultaneously. It is a Library of Sanctuary, a Safe Place, and a Warm Space, where anybody can find safety, comfort, and reassurance (and a cup of soup or a hot drink and a snack) whatever their circumstances, and it holds a special place in the hearts of the community. The layout of the building provides the ideal location for all these facilities, providing social space as well as quiet areas of privacy. The Town Hall is not a huge building, and this new proposal could result in a reduction in the number and quality of services provided. Years ago, when the library was refurbished, the service – which had far fewer activities than nowadays – was temporarily relocated to the Town Hall annexe, and it was agreed by users and staff that it was not possible to carry out all the normal functions anywhere other than in the original building. Due to its location, if the building were to be left empty for any length of time it would suffer undetected vandalism from the rear of the building, and would eventually become derelict through lack of maintenance. This would be a tragic loss to the heritage of Kirklees as a whole. Therefore we strongly urge the Council to reconsider this proposal, which would have a severe impact on the quality of life and the wellbeing of local residents.

The council plan to make 50% cuts to an already bare bones library service. Further cuts would mean a great loss to people of all ages from the youngest to the oldest who rely on library services for learning and development, keeping in touch, using IT equipment, reading, researching and coming in from the cold. The council should be proud of their library service and should be investing in the service, not making further cuts. They propose to cut opening hours at libraries across the county of Denbighshire. This has a potentially detrimental effect to other services that use the library. Take Bookstart Cymru for example. Denbighshire Bookstart gives every baby the opportunity to develop an early love of sharing books and reading, and to become members of their local library by: - giving each baby and toddler a free gift of a bilingual Bookstart bag - offering advice to parents and carers on the benefits of giving books to babies - encouraging library membership - running Rhymetimes in libraries - working in partnership with other early years agencies - Libraries love babies and toddlers, and young children will be given a great welcome. Children under 5 don’t have to pay fines if books are returned late or charges for damaged books. We also know that children can be noisy at times - that's no problem! A vital service for babies and toddlers that helps them learn and develop. Cuts will directly affect children’s learning and development and the proposals will see libraries closed on the days that Bookstart run their sessions. As we know, babies and toddlers do not have a voice so please sign this petition asking the council to re think their plans to cut these vital services Children and young people do not really have a voice and cuts to library services directly affect the smallest and most vulnerable in our society. Children are having their opportunities eroded by a Government that don’t care. The council need to listen and continue to provide a library service to those in our communities that need it the most, they need to invest in Library services, not make cuts

It looks like the Government could take from pensioner’s incomes to fund tax cuts while we’re all facing a cost of living crisis. Even if your income doesn’t come from a pension right now, this could be the beginning of slashing people’s protections to make the rich richer. The Government’s refusal to say they’ll protect people from pension poverty is all over the news, but right now this is just an idea they’re floating to see if they could get away with it. They could change their minds if they realise this could cost them the next election. We need to act now. If thousands of us sign the petition, it will show the Government that if they want to stay in power, they can’t take from us all to give to the rich.

We need to keep our children safe from harm or even a fatal accident

Young People need somewhere to go, that is warm and a safe space where they can feel listened to, supported and have social interactions with their peers. At Got2B we liken this to the following situation for the adults in society and ask how would adults feel if suddenly authorities axed all pubs, clubs, social centres, coffee shops and left you with only parks and recreation areas, with equipment that is out of date, not age appropriate and open to the elements? We believe there would be uproar, but Young People don’t have a voice and are unable to be heard by the people who have power to create change. That’s why we are bringing this to your attention. We want to present this to local Government and ask them to listen to their community and its Young People. We want them to reinstate/ provide free dedicated Youth spaces in our major towns. These spaces should be accessible to organisations supporting Young People, and offer professional Youth Clubs, guidance and support.

The cost of living crisis is punishing hard working people. It does not have to be this way! The Conservative government is choosing to shield and protect the wealthy, at the cost of hard working people!