• Abandon the Library Consultation
    Libraries matter to communities. To make informed decisons about libraries the Council needs to know what people think. But this consultation will not do that. The consultation is stuff full of jargon. The language is confusing. It should be in plain English. Readability of text can be measured using a SMOG test. That's "Simple Measure of Gobbledygook". The Sun newspaper has a SMOG value of less than 14. The Express is less than 16. The Guardian and Telegraph is around 17. The SMOG value of Worcestershire County Council's consulation is an amazing 44! Ordinary people have little chance of understanding it. But a good consultation should be about getting ordinary people's views. The Council should therefore abandon it and do it properly!
    16 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Robert Barlow
  • Say 'Yes' to a new Street Traders Market space just off the Royal Mile!
    After the loss of the lease for Edinburgh's only 7 day retail market in the Tron Kirk in April 2018, an application was submitted for a new space at the Courtyard inside Old Stamp Office Close, just off the Royal Mile. The plan is to erect 13 smaller, wooden stalls for retail use (so no cooking/ smells), around the perimeter of the Courtyard and operate during business hours only. The market will likely offer jewellery, fashions, Scottish arts and crafts, memorabilia and heritage products, bath and beauty products and much more. The Planning Committee are due to decide on the application on 5th December 2018, and we want them to say "YES" to the return of jobs, more trader pitches (which are being cut elsewhere), more opportunities to promote Scottish arts and craft products and offer a sustainable income for local micro business owners and their families. With this, it will provide a much called for alternative shopping experience for visitors to the Royal Mile whilst reducing the volume of traffic in the area by not forcing traders to erect metal framed stalls and carry stock to and from the High Street each day, under the current, unfair "ballot for pitches" system. Furthermore, an onsite cafe and office will be established to support the market by giving access to bathroom facilities, first aid/ health and safety resources, market management and a meeting place. This planning application is a "one of a kind" opportunity to deliver a number of benefits to the street trader and craft community of Edinburgh and the Lothians, which has recently seen Council votes go against them with the loss of the lease and closure of the Tron Kirk Market and the impending closure of Edinburgh Palette craft studios in Meadowbank. The city council will also receive a significant rent for the property and regular fees from annual Market Operator and Trader licences. With Edinburgh's High Street and North and South Bridge becoming ever more filled with souvenir shops, this will also bring a fresh alternative shopping experience for the many visitors to the Royal Mile. The location is also notable historically for being a house to Lady Eglinton and her daughters, a boarding school to Flora MacDonald and the founding location of RBS and will become more accessible to historians and walking tours if approved.
    10 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Stuart Ramsay
  • Electricity Bills Broken promise
    It is Vital that we don't have another winter of deaths caused by people who cannot affrd to heat themselves or their families plus a lot of old folk cant get by on their pensions alone,its time this promise she made was fulfilled by the Govt and not passing the buck to OFGEM,please sign this petition,its for you and your family's Good.
    67 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Peter Campbell
  • Primary school bus service. Millbank and rosebank primary
    This is important because it would take a lot of pressure off parents and their children. It would also keep the roads safer as it would mean less traffic on the lochloy Road as buses would mean less cars.
    182 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Sarah Gow
  • Fairer PAY for value of work.
    For far too long the non-operational side has been outcast and a forgotten part of the prison service, whether it be admin, parole, canteen services or estates maintenance The Scottish Prison Service seem to think it’s acceptable to place families in what is essentially poverty by not fairly rewarding the work that they do the level of qualifications that are expected of them and the above and beyond attitude that is taken for granted. They bang on about the other benefits that there are for working for the prison service but in all honesty there are pretty much none, they bang on about the pension(the ones that have been Cut so much they’re effectively worthless) the staff discounts (available from a big company where you have to buy gift cards and often find the price cheaper elsewhere anyway) the sick pay and sick entitlement (which is greatly received but also needed due to the stressful nature of the job remembering that the staff including the non-operational are in contact with the most dangerous members of the public on a daily basis, the constant barrage of extra work and extra tasks with no extra reward they are grinding down their staff and sending them dangerously close to a burnout) There is a clear divide throughout the SPS where it seems that the non-operational staff are degraded and forgotten about. The Scottish prison service do not pay appropriately for these posts. For example a member of admin staff at one of the prisons effectively has 3 roles to do after 2 colleagues got fed up and left. Here’s the big surprise they can’t fill the post because the wages are so poor. Another member of non-operational staff at another prison keeps getting tasks added to their job role with no extra reward and then subsequently is rebuked when they cannot deliver on their original role. Yet another member of staff is effectively doing the job of two people because the post for the other person has lay vacant for months. They are afraid to fill the post with agency workers as then they may well be subject to an equal pay claim is it right that even temporary workers are better paid and have better working conditions than those employed by the prison service. Another prison is so short on staff they have had to beg, borrow and steal staff from across the country to deliver on a project. Yet another has had vacant posts for months upon months and has had to borrow staff from elsewhere effectively leaving them short and yet another prison has a vacant post and is sending labour to a different prison leaving one staff member to cover 3 roles and still no one is taking notice. Then there are the “B” bands the lowest paid workers in the prison service. Many have to travel considerable distances to get to work and are constantly belittled and passed over for other colleagues rewards before themselves. Such as recently an equal pay claim which was settled out of court and the prison service paid out£4000 to each of the the C, D and E bands but they didn’t even consider the B bands even with this 4000 the wages of the C, D and E bands are not proportional to the jobs that they do and nowhere near in line with what other similar roles are paid. But what about the B bands who just keep getting more and more tasks added to their job description without any extra reward. As it was said by the upper eschelons if the prison service someone has to loose out to give someone else something and yet they can hand back millions of pounds each year to the government. It is time that the Scottish Prison Service and the Scottish Government sit up and take notice of the utter state of despair that the prison service is in. Time that they take a serious look at themselves and at the crash in morale they have caused and the real life implications of the desicions that they make. Why should anyone ever have to loose out? What about fair reward for the work that they do?
    3 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Anonymous SPSemployee
  • Sustainable Energy for all
    To improve the life chances of future generations Develop the skills, knowledge and employment of the young For the UK to be energy independent/self sufficient To eliminate energy poverty To give the earth and all it supports a chance for repair
    39 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Ann Marie Morris
  • Almerias Dirty Little Secret, Modern day Slavery
    Human rights are being abused for profit, the public should be made aware of the where and how their food is being grown at the expense of human life and the environment. There are many issues here, the British and Spanish Governments must be made aware of the horrifying scenario immigrants are being subjected to. Thousands of people toil under the polythene sheeting that make up the huge greenhouses. They’re mostly migrant workers, Moroccans, Senegalese and Malians, who have gone to Spain seeking a better life, many risking their own lives on the way. Working in the polythene greenhouses temperatures can sometimes soar to 50 degrees. Up to 120,000 people work producing nearly three million tonnes of fruit and veg every year for export to Britain and across northern Europe. Some actually live inside this plastic hothouse. At night, when the security gates are closed, they are locked in. Some who dare to complain of any ailments can be blacklisted, leaving them stranded with no money to get back to wherever they travelled from. Some of the Physical illnesses are caused by pesticides, which are sprayed during working hours where workers are exposed to the deadly and toxic atmosphere, they are not given masks or safety goggles to protect themselves from potentially fatal outcomes to the exposure. How can we sit at our dinner tables knowing that the men and women, who are someones, mother or father, son or daughter are being treated like modern day slaves in order to feed the rest the UK and the rest of Europe. Michael Gove and George Eustice need to be sure that the food they claim they want to be safe and sustainable is not jeopardizing human life in the process..The most heinous thing about this is this nothing new, this has been going on since the 1980s!!!! What will it take to make these Governments stop and change this shocking situation..DEFRA need to scrutinise the integrity of who we buy and import our food from! Together with the environment ministers who should question the side effects of the disposal of the discarded polythene..Please sign the petition to get fair working conditions for these poor migrants, they are human beings.
    13 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Jessica Reynolds
  • The new 50 pound note to have George Edwin Ellison
    Firstly, I would like to say that this nation owes everything to the service men and women who have given everything in the defence of the nation. Secondly, if it wasn't for them everything that we know as being British wouldn't have happened without their sacrifice. George Edwin Ellison of the 5th Lancers was born in Leeds, England and was one day away from being safe and surviving the war alive but it was fate that decided, he would have to give all, for his family, friends, and country men to have peace. Lastly, this year is 2018 and its almost been 100 years since George Edwin Ellison laid down his life for us to live in peace, but who was he but a man among meny. The last of our finest, who died in the name of prosperity and peace. I believe that by putting George Edwin Ellison on the new 50 pound note is an amazing way for the nation to remember the people who have given us all.
    7 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Thomas Dowling
  • Allow us to serve you Curry
    The 4 billion Curry industry needs government to seriously reconsider the skill migration policy to accommodate the staff shortage Curry Houses are facing . There are lots of Curry house owners selling their business because they can’t deal with this understaff situation. My organisation Bangladesh Caterers Association Kent would like your support to keep its members door open to serve you the British People your Favourite curries. As we know Due to Brexit the Immigration policies will change , we would like the Government to change their view towards the Curry Industry and allow us to bring Chefs from Abroad as they have accommodated Agriculture industry by allowing Fruit Pickers to be employed from Abroad.
    2 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Mustafiz Khandaker
  • Force Mortgage 'Early Repayment Charges' to reflect cost to bank
    Banks are keen to make money in hidden ways that are unavoidable. These excessive charges impact families and people who maybe have no other choice but to repay a mortgage.
    4 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Andy Avery
  • Child maintenance service should cap pension contributions
    It is ludicrous that non resident parents are currently legally allowed in the UK to pay as much money as they want into a private pension for themselves to use later in life, so that by doing this it reduces their gross income so that the child maintenance payments calculated for them to pay to their child/children growing up is a lot less. This will have a huge impact on a lot of children growing up in single parent families and is simy wrong. Please sign this petition for this to be looked at and changed. Thankyou
    22 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Jennifer Waters
  • Fry's Chocolate Factory Petion
    To remember the first company to create the probable first chocolate bar and a new way of processing chocolate as well as the first chocolate Easter Egg.This was in their former headquarters and factory on the corner of Union Street and Nelson Street.
    4 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Fred Ralston