On April 1st a woefully-ill-equipped private firm, Coperforma, replaced the NHS’s South East Coast Ambulance Service in a botched privatisation of NHS services. The mobile phone app the company uses often doesn’t work, especially in areas of poor mobile reception and its own ambulance drivers have said the company is ‘out of its depth’. The result? • Cancer patients have missed oncology appointments after ambulances failed to turn up to collect them. • Patients with kidney failure have not been able to receive scheduled sessions of kidney dialysis for the same reason, with some missing two of their three treatments in a week. • So many patients have become stuck at the Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton because their transport has not arrived that it has paid for taxis and other private vehicle suppliers to take them home. • Staff there have had to stay until midnight to ensure kidney patients arriving hours after their scheduled start time have received vital dialysis. • Coperforma vehicles have turned up to collect patients who have already died. Patients, relatives, NHS bodies, Trade Unions and local MPs have severely criticised the service’s performance but still local CCGs persist with the untenable private company. The previous public provider regularly had approval ratings of over 90%. For more information http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/12/patients-wait-hours-for-ambulances-nhs-transport-service-privatised-sussex http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/local/14432002.Patient_transport_company_out_of_its_depth__say_its_own_drivers/

As this means that families who get free travel will have to pay ridiculous prices.

The Hove Museum is an integral part of the culture and community of Brighton and Hove. It is part of the lives of the residents of Brighton and Hove and thousands of visitors too. It is a beautiful and historic building which houses an eclectic mix of exhibititions which enrich and enhance the lives of all who visit it. The Gardens are equally integral and are used by hundreds of residents each day for picnics, dog walking, children's games and quiet time. The Commmunity will be irreparably damaged if this is taken away.

No two schools are alike. But the government doesn’t seem to agree. It wants to rush through plans to force every single school in England to become an academy – the type of school paid for by taxpayers, but run by businesses, sponsors or trusts. Many teachers and parents are already standing against the plans, saying that they’re ‘a step towards privatisation’, ignore local views, put profit before quality of education and could force some schools to close. One size does not fit all, and the pupils, teachers and parents of High Storrs School should have a say in the future of our school. #AintHighStorrsGotTimeForBeingAnAcademy #HighStorrsDoesntWantToBeAnAcademy

Not only is it going to mean the loss of 4 local jobs, but it will be a great loss to students that use this vital centre of learning.

The Ward is a vital part of our NHS Services to care for the often extremely sick and terminally ill patients

The economic impact on both the employees, and those dependant on the local economy, of the closure of the Longannet Power Plant will be felt far and wide. Small local business will be badly hit. There remains no large scale employer in the West Fife area after this closure so regeneration funding is vital to the recovery process.

Staff who clean HM Revenue and Customs offices are overworked and undervalued. Paid just the minimum wage, they have now been told they must shoulder the cost of introducing the government’s so-called “national living wage” through cuts in their hours and jobs. Their employment follows a familiar pattern. HMRC handed the contract to a private company, Mapeley, in 2001. Mapeley set up another firm, Salisbury, to handle the contract, which in turn subcontracts the work to the global firm ISS Facility Services. This arrangement blurs the lines of responsibility. ISS insists it is bound by its contract, while the others claim they cannot intervene as they are not the direct employer. It is inconceivable that the money cannot be found to pay the cleaners a wage that allows them to afford a basic standard of living. Added to this, cleaners currently only receive statutory sick pay and holiday entitlement. We do not believe they should have fewer rights than the civil servants they work alongside in HMRC. We are campaigning not just against the threat of cuts to hours and staff, but for equal treatment with HMRC’s own employees. And we are demanding that both the department and the contractor face up to their responsibilities to these low-paid workers.

This valuable service in Andover since being taken over by Brighterkind has been left to run down and set up to fail. The only reason for closure is domiciliary care is not part of Brighterkind's portfolio although financially it breaks even. High Care have provided excellent service over a number of years and has won awards in the area for outstanding service. The service carries out government policy, providing care in the home and is the only domiciliary service that carries out palliative care.....the residents of Andover cannot afford to loose this valuable provision.

These two post office's are essential to these two village's and the community as a whole, it could and would cause lots of problems for the people who live in them.

The government wants to cut pharmacy funding by £170m - this means a quarter of pharmacies around the UK could close. The Pharmacy is much more helpful then 111. My local pharmacy is very helpful with my diabetes. They do a great job of helping the elderly and checking that you are taking the right drugs. The government put out that you should go see your pharmacy instead of your GP or A&E, and now they want to cut the funding.

The continued exclusion of overseas pensioners from up-rating adjustments to their State Pensions means that the real terms incomes of those affected falls year-on-year. Over time this leads to hardship, poverty, loss of independence and loneliness. Some individuals have been forced to return to the UK, away from loved ones, just to get by. This policy also creates a barrier to pensioner emigration from the UK, as the prospect of a frozen pension means that many feel they simply couldn't afford to do so. Given the countries involved are largely in the Commonwealth, those in British Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities are disproportionately impacted. There is no dispute about the entitlement to receive a State Pension overseas. All British pensioners who have made the required NI contributions during their working life are eligible. The issue at stake is whether that pension is universally uprated or not. At the moment, the government's policy is inconsistent and unfair, with half British pensioners abroad getting up-rated and the other half excluded. This creates crazy anomalies i.e. uprating in the USA, frozen pensions in Canada. It is time for reform to give all pensioners the full state pension they deserve, wherever they live, and to end this injustice once and for all. A positive, and easily affordable, step forward would be for the Government to include all pensioners in the 2.7% State Pension up-rating to be granted this year, by withdrawing the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Regulations 2016 currently before parliament. CASE STUDIES: Anne Puckridge Former college lecturer Anne Puckridge, now 91, lived and worked in the UK all her working life, paying mandatory NI contributions throughout this time. In 2002, aged 77 she finally retired and decided to move to Canada to be with her daughter and grandchildren who had moved to Calgary in the 1990s. Fourteen years on, Anne, who served as an intelligence officer in the Women’s Royal Navy in the Second World War, is struggling to live on the frozen £75.50 a week rate, she was entitled to when she moved abroad. Anne now feels that she will be forced to move back to Britain, because her pension will no longer cover day to day expenses and she is increasingly reliant on her daughter to get by. Anne says: “It’s the small things, and the injustice, that is really getting to me. I value my independence, but I can’t go on living on the breadline and I don’t want to inflict this on my family. As well as ever-increasingly poverty, I feel a sense of stress and shame, which is affecting my health.” Abhik Bonnerjee Abhik Bonnerjee, now 73, moved from India to Glasgow in 1960. He worked in the UK for 38 years, in shipbuilding, steel manufacture and the food industry. He owned an Indian restaurant for 6 years. Abhik returned to India in 1997 and reached the State Pension retirement age in 2008 when it was paid at £87.30 a week. Having made all the required NI contributions, if Abhik still in the UK today he would get £115.95, 28% more. The decline in his real terms income has left Abhik concerned about losing his home. He now feels he may have to move back to the UK. Abhik says: “The current situation makes me very, very angry. The government are scaremongering… [The Minister] says it will cost a lot of money but it is only a tiny percentage [of the pensions budget]. The government should be doing more, especially for Commonwealth countries and MPs can’t explain why they are not.” Rita Young Rita Young, 78, lives in Peterborough in the UK. She retired in 2002, aged 67, having enjoyed a long career in market research and as a community volunteer. Rita’s son moved to work in Australia some time ago and now has a family there. Since being widowed Rita has wanted to join her son and grandchildren in Australia, but has felt unable to do so due to the prospect of a frozen pension. As she gets older Rita finds daily life increasingly difficult, especially as she doesn’t have a family around who she can call on. She is deeply saddened that she is not able to be with her family during the later stages of her life, and feels that it is a complete injustice that had her son moved to a different country (e.g. France or the USA) she would be able join him with a full UK pension. Rita has spoken at the National Pensioners Convention about the issue and is very active in her community. Rita says: “I worked and contributed to my State Pension all my life. It doesn't seem fair that the government can just stop uprating it because I want to be with my family.” Geoff Amatt Geoff Amatt from Abergele in Wales reached 100 last year. Geoff contributed to the UK economy all his life and fought for his country during the Second World War. Geoff’s daughter Jean emigrated to Calgary, Canada more than 40 years ago, yet Geoff was unable to follow in the knowledge that his State Pension would be frozen at the rate of leaving the country. £29 per week at the time. As a result Geoff has been separated from his two grandchildren and two great grandchildren throughout his retirement. He has lived alone, largely dependent on the state for care, since his wife died seven years ago. Jean says: “Frozen pensions are unbelievably unfair. Canadians get their pension uprated in they live in the UK yet we don’t offer the same for those moving in the other direction. The government is keeping families apart and I worry about my father left all alone in Britain while we’re thousands of miles away.”