Otter Rotters provides supported volunteer, training and job opportunities for learning disabled and disadvantaged people. Community Composting Groups used to operate under an exemption. The exemption ceiling for the new permit regime has been set too low and community groups have been forced to stop their operations whilst calling for a review. Environment Agency stated in April 2012 “ we recognised that a significant number of composting operations were likely to be disproportionately affected by the changes. Such operations would move from exempt status to full bespoke permitting as they could not take advantage of our light-touch standard rules approach” and bespoke fees were reduced but not to a level that would enable the community schemes to be able to afford the application process. Community Composting is about local communities composting their green waste locally. The introduction of this permit regime has meant that green waste is now being transported out of area and a disposal fee having to be paid to commerical operators. It will reverse the trend of green waste being diverted from landfill sites if Otter Rotters is forced to give up their composting site resulting in job and training opportunity losses for its learning disabled team.

The Council plans to cut £2 million from the library budget by 2015. This will lead to the closure of 70% of our permanent libraries, and a reduction in opening hours, mobile library and home library services. Libraries are a focal point for the whole community. They are a diverse space where children learn to read, pensioners can go to socialise, and free internet access is provided for everyone. They provide access to education and the arts for everyone. We cannot afford to lose them. The County Council is currently holding a consultation to find out the experiences and opinions of local people. Once you’ve signed the petition, please fill out this Council survey to let the Council know how important your library is to you: http://apps.lincolnshire.gov.uk/snapsurveys/llc/lincolnshire_libraries_consultation.htm For more information about the consultation and events where you can have your say, please check out this website: http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/residents/discover-libraries/libraries-consultation/ The Council plan to make their decision in September so we still have time! Please sign this petition now to show the Council how much we value our libraries and to apply pressure before the final decision is made.

http://www.bringbackbritishrail.org/images/eastcoast.png East Coast is currently the only rail franchise in public ownership; it is also the most successful. The East Coast railway line from London to Scotland is run by the publicly owned Directly Operated Railways (DOR). It went into public hands in 2009 when National Express became the second private company forced to drop the franchise after financial difficulties. Despite the success of the publicly owned East Coast line, the Government plans to hand the franchise back to a profit-making company by 2015. If this happens, it will be much harder to improve the railways in the future by running them publicly. East Coast is better for passengers: Public ownership of East Coast has improved journeys for passengers. The line achieved a 92% overall satisfaction rating in the Autumn 2012 Passenger Focus National Passenger Survey – the highest score on this franchise at any time since the survey was first launched in Autumn 1999. This score was three percentage points higher than the 89% average for all long distance train operators. East Coast was rated higher than the long distance operator average for 16 out of 19 measures. Passengers rated East Coast 13 points higher than the long distance average for how the operator deals with delays. The train operator won a national award, the Silver Whistle prize, for its provision of customer information at times of disruption. East Coast is better for taxpayers: The publicly owned East Coast group is paying more money back to the state than any private operator ever has. It has paid more than £600 million in premiums and profits into government coffers in the three years to April 2012. This is more than Virgin's West Coast line has paid in the past 15 years. A study by the Office of Rail Regulation, the official industry watchdog, noted that the East Coast line requires significantly less government funding than the other 15 franchises given to the private sector by the Department for Transport. Whilst Virgin West Coast last year received 3.6p per passenger mile, £133 million in total, East Coast was given a net subsidy of 0.5p per passenger mile. This petition is supported by these organisations: http://www.bringbackbritishrail.org/images/coalitionlogos.png

The service times of the Glasgow Subway are not satisfactory. People often need to get around the city before 6.30 am, and particularly after 11 pm. The situation is even worse on Sundays, when there is only limited service available between 10 am and 6.30 pm - it is not even possible to get into town for e.g. a cultural event on a Sunday evening. Extending the service times would make public transport in Glasgow far more attractive. SPT is a public body, which means it is owned by the people, and hence it should meet their need for efficient public transport. (SPT often say "regular heavy maintenance" is needed to be carried out at night and on Sunday evenings - but other and often larger subway systems all over the world seem to be able to offer far better service times.) On top of that, and scarcely announced, the popular 10 and 20 journey tickets (for 12/22 £) were scrapped on 29 June without public consultation. They are meant to be replaced by 7 day and new 28 day season tickets: http://www.spt.co.uk/subway/smart/ However, season tickets are far more expensive - 45 £ for 28 days - and less flexible compared to 10/20 journey tickets because they expire. This lets down frequent but not daily travellers. This petition is not directed against new "smart" tickets per se, but against punishing regular but not daily travellers through a massive price hike. We really would like to know what SPT mean in detail when they say "SPT would like to reassure customers who have made use of our multi-journey tickets in the past that there will be a similar ‘smart’ ticket product in future." If, as SPT claim, the "smart" tickets cannot count to 20, then alternative solutions are possible, e.g. in the form of top up offers (pay 22 £, get a 28 £ top-up - this would be equal to the old 20 journey ticket). But making regular users pay for a single ticket every time (even from a top-up card) is not good enough - and increases the price for 20 flexible journeys from 22 £ to 28 £, a 27.3 % increase. Prices were already increased by 9 % last year ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-19300997 ). But still, there is no service improvement at all - we, the public, have to live with appalling opening times and bad access for the elderly, disabled and prams. A customer complains on Facebook: "The heart of Glasgow yet your happy t scrap 10&20 journey tickets that so many people rely on. I currently spend £22 a month using your subway. Your price changes mean you want me to spend £44. If your introducing "Smart" cards is the reason for this, then why are they not "smart" enough to deal with 10&20 journey? Disappointing and you have lost a loyal customer of 5 years from July!" Another customer says on SPT's Facebook page "I think your new 7/28 day tickets are just an excuse to make extra money, I work 4 days a week and only use the subway one way so a 10 journey can last me over 2 weeks, on your new system I would be more than double the money for the same period." As a publicly owned and run body, SPT is not serving our interests. Therefore we would like to ask Gordon Maclennan, SPT's Chief Executive, to listen to us as SPT's owners by improving service times and proving that the new "smart card" ticketing system lives up to its name and can handle 10 and 20 journey tickets.

Staffordshire County Council is proposing to charge £380 a year per child for transport where children are not attending the nearest school. The figure does not take proper account of income and could be increased. For thousands of families their nearest school is not the local catchment school there is no way of avoiding this cost. An estimated 72 schools are affected and could face losing pupils. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Staffordshire-pupils-facing-pound-380-school-bus/story-19171776-detail/story.html In Perton where I live the nearest school is in Wolverhampton which is another Local Education Authority. We have no choice but to send children to Codsall if we want them to go to the local catchment school. The council is suggesting that pupils should walk to school if parents can't afford the transport costs or drive them, but with many of the those affected living in rural areas, walking along unlit 60 mile an hour roads is not a safe or viable option. It will also lead to a increased volume of cars on many roads causing disruption and congestion to other travellers. This policy is poorly thought through and unfair especially at a time when many families are already struggling to make ends meet.

Boris Johnson wanted to cut £45 million over two years from the fire service. To save £28.8 million in 2014, on 9 January 2014 he decimated the London Fire Brigade, closing Belsize, Bow, Clerkenwell, Downham, Kingsland, Knightsbridge, Silvertown, Southwark, Westminster and Woolwich Fire Stations. As part of this austerity drive, he also cut 552 firefighter positions, 14 fire engines and 2 FRUs. Westminster for example has lost its 109 year old fire station - and now uses Lambeth’s instead, over the river. Is it fair that Lambeth taxpayers fund a service used by Westminster? And that world heritage sites, like Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Cathedral as well as tourists and taxpayers are left without emergency protection, with only two bridges into Westminster from Lambeth? Five of the ten closed by the Mayor are Grade 2 listed buildings. And a 6th is just behind Harrods. Others, like Kingsland and Silvertown, are located in areas where property values are rising dramatically (due to to projects like Crossrail and the Mayor's Royal Albert Docks development). This is not about saving money, as the Mayor has found public money to fund vanity projects such as the 'not so public' Garden Bridge (£60 million in public money), the Emirates Air Line and the Barclays Bike Scheme. Closing and selling these fire stations is like selling the family silver to gain a one-off windfall. Southwark Fire Station alone was valued at £10 million in 2010. Once they are sold into private ownership, taxpayers will never be able to get them back. We won’t be able to afford them. And we can’t afford to lose them either. Boris Johnson stated that fire incidence is down (which is disputable). Firefighters do more than fight fires. Recent events like the gas explosion in Marylebone remind us of that. They educate us (and save lives as a result). They assess risks in our homes (for free).They are the ones who will cut you out of your car when you have a road traffic accident. They are our first response when terrorists attack as was the case in 7/7 in 2005. They rush in to the underground or train stations when smoke is pouring out. They have an arson investigation unit. They do voluntary work within the community. They train locally and have local knowledge, like learning where the disabled live or knowing their way around housing estates; all this local knowledge has been dispersed through the closures. Response times have increased and insurance premiums with them due to the reduced fire coverage. All to save the price of a few cups of coffee. An annual increase of £5 on council tax would have prevented the closures. Our communities will be poorer and more vulnerable if we lose these fire stations forever. Please do not let that happen. Please sign and share the petition. And let the Mayor know that what he is doing is dangerous...

Royal Mail is part of the fabric of the nation – we don’t want to see it ripped apart. The Government has announced that it plans to sell off the Royal Mail later this year either through issuing shares or potentially a private sale which could be to a private equity company. Royal Mail provides a hugely valued universal service. It charges the same to post a letter from Aberdeen to Penzance as it does from London to Manchester. This along with free postal services for our service men and women as well as vulnerable groups could disappear. Not only that, but it provides a lifeline to rural communities. Post Offices are often the cornerstones of remote villages, and provide the space for residents to meet and conduct their affairs, particularly for older people. And Royal Mail makes a profit. £403 million to be precise. It is an asset to the UK, worth an estimated £20 billion. But the government wants to sell it off, for just £3 billion. The government is giving away a public utility so that large corporations can turn a profit. The public has not been consulted about this, it was not in any party manifesto. The sell-off is a travesty that must be stopped. Sign our petition, share it amongst your friends, and let’s keep the Post Office public.

This is important because it reaches into the heart of the modern British nation. On the one hand there is a publicly funded institution that broadcasts and supports an idea of Britain that many people believe has had its day and on the other hand there is a voice of modern Britain that is being denied its place to be heard. The role of the BBC is to be impartial and to voice all opinions of the British people and not to project only the 'audience expectations' of the BBC Board of Governors. I feel the BBC is badly off target when it comes to understanding its role in modern society and I think that only a massive public response will wake it from it's slumber.

In the light of the current legislation which aims to claw money back from social housing tenants who are in receipt of housing benefit if their accommodation has 'too many' bedrooms - it might be interesting to discover how many MPs have claimed for housing that they 'under-occupy', and which of these MPs are in favour of the bedroom tax.

It is essential parenting is not seen as a SECONDARY career choice as it now appears to be in the eyes of our politicians and perhaps even our society. Those parents will now be substantially worse off in monetary terms relative to parents who work outside the home.

I have been a Geography teacher for more than 25 years. During that time I have taught my pupils dozens of different topics, from map reading and geology to volcanoes and earthquakes. But nothing I’ve ever taught my students has been so important as what I teach them about climate change now. The challenges man-made climate changes pose to human beings are huge. In my classes, children learn about these challenges and why they are relevant to them. They learn why it is adults tell them to recycle, switch off their computers and close doors to keep the heat in. From an early age, we are teaching children to respect the world around them and to value human life. These are values that many of them will carry with them for the rest of their lives. They are the best possible weapons we can give them to help prevent disastrous climate change in the future. But the government’s new guidelines for the national curriculum threaten all of that. Children will not be taught about climate change unless they take GCSE Geography - a course that was only taken by 27% of GCSE students last year. For children under the age of 14, climate change will appear only once in the syllabus - under the heading “efficacy of recycling” in Chemistry. It’s not enough for children to be taught the cold facts behind the science of climate change. To fully understand why climate change matters, they need to understand how it affects real people, how it relates to them and changes the world they live in. This is an understanding that’s essential if our children are going to be part of the responsible, engaged and sustainable society we all want to see. And the truth is, children love learning about climate change. My students are interested in global environmental issues such as Arctic conservation and have real concerns about the effects of climate change on people, wildlife and animals. They are constantly asking questions about extreme weather we’re experiencing and want to understand why these changes are occurring. They want to know if they’re going to get worse in their lifetime and what they can do about it. The government are making decisions about what young people can and can’t learn about without asking them - yet it’s young people who are going to suffer the consequences of these decisions. So I’ll leave it to one of my students to tell you what it is they think about all this: “If the next generation isn’t taught about the effects of climate change then where are they going to learn it from? If they don’t learn about it they won’t take into account the damage they may cause in the future.” Please sign this petition. Together, we can show Michael Gove that his plans are wrong - for our children, our planet, and our future. Margaret Hunter Geography teacher at The Warriner School in Oxfordshire

It is important as the cuts are hurting the pensioners and the disabled, as because of the cuts social services and local councils are charging us a so called well being charge, this will only be well being to the council not us who will have to pay this on top of our rents which are high, £623.48 every four weeks.