Thanks to the Government's 'Right to Buy' Policy, local government are forced to offer Social Housing at heavily discounted prices - at approximately up to 70% of value - to elderly, disabled and vulnerable residents in Independent Living Accommodation; thus reducing the housing stock in Social Housing overall. Affordable Housing is only offered at 20% of value which most cannot afford. If residents cannot get social housing, either through an association or the council, they are forced into the more expensive - ON AVERAGE 4 TIMES AS MORE - private renting. For example: In the last six months, 130 Independent Living Accommodation Sites have been lost, never to replaced, amounting to 2% of the current total Social Housing within the Stroud Area alone; an issue that is being replicated across the United Kingdom.

Prison leaders, from local to national, presided over an “abject failure” to provide a safe, decent and purposeful regime at HMP Liverpool, according to Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. In a report outlining jail conditions that experienced inspectors regarded as the worst they could remember, Mr Clarke said it was “hard to understand how the leadership of the prison could have allowed the situation to deteriorate to this extent.” Inspectors found squalid living conditions, with dirt, litter, rats and cockroaches, and an environment in which drugs were easily available and violence had increased. Mr Clarke added: “While much of what we found was clearly the responsibility of local prison managers, there had been a broader organisational failure. We saw clear evidence that local prison managers had sought help from regional and national management to improve conditions they knew to be unacceptable long before our arrival, but the resulting support was inadequate and had made little impact on outcomes for prisoners.” HMP Liverpool is a local category B prison serving the Merseyside area. A traditional local jail with “a very strong sense of local identity”, it held 1,115 men at the time of the unannounced inspection in September 2017. It was last inspected in May 2015. Since then, the prison had deteriorated in terms of respect and purposeful activity and these elements were poor, the lowest possible assessment, in 2017. Safety and resettlement work, the two other key inspection tests, were judged as ‘not sufficiently good.’ However, Mr Clarke said, the bare statistics “do not adequately describe the abject failure of HMP Liverpool to offer a safe, decent and purposeful environment.” He identified key issues: Violence of all kinds had increased. Over a third of prisoners felt unsafe at the time of the inspection, and 71% felt unsafe at some time. Nearly two-thirds of prisoners said it was easy or very easy to obtain drugs. Drones carrying drugs and other illicit items were a substantial problem. Staff had recovered 32 drones in the six months before the inspection, more than one a week. Half of the prisoners were locked in their cells during the working day. There were also significant failings in the leadership and management of activities and in health care. There was a backlog of some 2,000 maintenance tasks and it was clear that facilities management at the prison “was in a parlous state.” Mr Clarke added: “The inspection team was highly experienced and could not recall having seen worse living conditions than those at HMP Liverpool. “Many cells were not fit to be used and should have been decommissioned. Some had emergency call bells that were not working but were nevertheless still occupied, presenting an obvious danger to prisoners. There were hundreds of unrepaired broken windows, with jagged glass left in the frames. Many lavatories were filthy, blocked or leaking. There were infestations of cockroaches in some areas, broken furniture, graffiti, damp and dirt. “I saw piles of rubbish that had clearly been there for a long time, and in which inspectors reported seeing rats on a regular basis. I was told by a senior member of staff that it had not been cleared by prisoners employed as cleaning orderlies because it presented a health and safety risk. It was so bad that external contractors were to be brought in to deal with it. In other words, this part of the jail had become so dirty, infested and hazardous to health that it could not be cleaned.” Mr Clarke was particularly troubled by the case of one vulnerable man with complex mental health needs being held in a cell that had no furniture other than a bed. “The windows of both the cell and the toilet recess were broken, the light fitting in his toilet was broken with wires exposed, the lavatory was filthy and appeared to be blocked, his sink was leaking and the cell was dark and damp. “Extraordinarily, this man had apparently been held in this condition for some weeks…It should not have needed my personal intervention for this man to be moved from such appalling conditions.” Inspectors could see “no credible plan” to address these basic problems. Mr Clarke said: “Although there are several change projects underway at the prison, none of these will address the basic failings that were so painfully obvious at HMP Liverpool. I was particularly concerned that there did not appear to be effective leadership or sufficiently rigorous external oversight to drive the prison forward in a meaningful way. This report makes it crystal clear that leaders at all levels, both within the prison and beyond, had presided over the failure to address the concerns raised at the last inspection.” Michael Spurr, Chief Executive of Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, said: “The conditions which Inspectors found at Liverpool were unacceptable and effective measures should have been taken to deal with the issues at a much earlier stage. We are committed to fixing this, have already made changes where we can, and have today published a comprehensive action plan to address the Chief Inspector’s concerns.Following the Inspection we took immediate action to rectify the situation. A new Governor has been appointed and a strengthened management team is in place; capacity has been reduced by 172 places; over 700 prisoners now have a named Prison Officer as their ‘Key Worker’; cleanliness has been improved and the maintenance backlog has been almost halved. Liverpool has a dedicated staff who are committed to providing a safe and decent environment for prisoners. The Governor will get the support she needs to deliver the action plan and make the changes necessary to substantially improve the performance and conditions at the prison.”

Northern Ireland has the highest suicide rates in the UK but 25% less funding. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-has-highest-rate-of-suicide-in-the-uk-but-mental-health-funding-is-25-less-36418579.html In fact, in a recent study of suicide rates and reported on by the Guardian (link below) Northern Ireland has had more suicides in the 20 years since the Good Friday agreement in 1998 than in 28 years during the troubles from 1969 - 1997. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/20/northern-ireland-suicides-troubles-death-toll We the undersigned find this situation cruel and unacceptable and it has to change. Since Northern Ireland is receiving an extra £1bn in funding we demand that...... 1. The Department of Health commit to an increase of funding to mental health services of at least 10% from the £1bn extra funding for Northern Ireland secured by the DUP after the last General election. 2. The current £7m per year allocated to suicide prevention through the Public Health Agency be increased to £21m per year from the £1bn extra funding for Northern Ireland secured by the DUP after the last General election. 3. An effective, sustainable and long-term suicide prevention campaign to begin at the earliest opportunity

The Doctor Beeching style axe hanging over these vital bus services means we must work together to save vital bus services this is a great way of doing it with the Coastliner and Coasthopper running together its needed so lets do it ok!

Thurrock and the surrounding area has a ever expanding population,this Hospital should be retained to provide the NHS Services now in situ and if anything this should be expanded to serve local needs.The transport services that would provide for the planned restructuring now under consultation about changes to our Essex Hospitals are totally inadequate at present and it is time to make your voice heard.Please sign if you wish to a least try to save Orsett Hospital.

Suicide prevention hotlines work incredibly hard every day to save endless lives and the fact they get paid only a little more than minimum wage is terrible.

As human life is important and people who have been about to commit suicide have said that just a few words telling them someone loves them would of deterred them from jumping

The younger generations of now and the future are becoming increasingly restricted to play the game that dominates our sporting world. Their desire to play and fulfil their dreams of becoming the professional players of the future are hampered by a lack of suitable pitches to play on. Waterlogged unsuitable pitches are on the increase due to lack of funding, making this 'winter sport' only possible in 'fairer' weather conditions. The Premier League continues to grow and will generate over £5bn in the next 3 seasons in broadcasting rights. The Government must encourage the FA to ensure that 7% of this goes to fund grassroots football nationwide but our pledge is to secure funding for Merseyside. How do we encourage the future generations of football that their dream is possible when there are fewer and fewer suitable places to play? As a nation we invest in and support our teams at the stadiums, through broadcasting, buying their merchandise in addition to sharing the joys of victory and never losing hope with losses, surely its time for something in return to ensure that the youth of today can be given every opportunity to develop into potentially our future professionals.

The current insurance system is broken. The more crime there is, the more premiums increase, and yet none of that money is ever used to prevent crime. It is not in the insurance companies interest to reduce crime, because that would mean they would have to lower their premiums (and hence profits), rather than increasing them every year. I propose a special tax should be levied on insurance companies, and that the money raised should be fed back into the Police's budget to put more officers on the ground, thus reducing crime. It would be a win for the good people of this country, and a win for the police. The only people that stand to lose anything by this arrangement would be the insurance companies, and I seriously doubt anyone really cares for their profit margins! As an example, my car insurance has increased by £400 this year. I haven't moved, I haven't had an accident - it's simply down to the fact that the area I live in has seen a spate of thefts. Surely, that £400 would be better spent on police, rather that ending up in the coffers of some insurance company.

This is important to the community because for a variety of years prior to now people have had to travel to swim and enjoy themselves, in which is difficult for people in certain circumstances lately. It is important for people who have children as they may not be able to travel so far or may not be able to afford to travel so far and pay for a swim also. This is important for those who don't drive. This is simply because it is easy to attend to and it is easy to pay public transport too if we had one much close to home. This is also important to those with disabilities. Simply because their carers may not be able to travel so far with the wheelchairs and walkers etc and may not be able to travel certain distances with their family members. This is important because people in certain situations like these could use these fun pools for education of some sort and would benefit from this increasingly! Persons like these are missing out on bundles of fun! Yes we have swimming pools in and around Bolton but each and every single one is basic. We want a swimming pool with slides and inflatables to be able have fun with instead of swimming lengths back and forth for hours! We want somewhere to swim with friends and family, we want somewhere to swim and have fun with these people and somewhere to make more memories! This would also create a variety of job opportunities for those who are looking to be employed and would also benefit from this too.

Because schools funds have been cut 6 percent but the council don't mind wasting our money on electric.

We all agree we’d like to see Cornish rugby and football played in a new purpose built stadium but to ask Council tax payers, already reeling from a 5% increase for next year, to stump up £6M is a step too far. In effect, this would mean us subsidizing two private companies, who right now have respective gates of around 200 and 1000, to build a 4000 seat stadium on the premise that any shortfall will be made up by business conferencing and miscellaneous courses from Truro College - and it’s far too small to host an Adele concert. So, people in Bude and Saltash will be paying for facilities at the other end of Cornwall but, worse still, any reasonable person knows that the £6M will not be the end of it. Will the two clubs be able to generate enough income to pay for long term maintenance? The Pirates are already subsidised by generous benefactors. What if these individuals drop out? Other stadiums (Coventry, Chester and Hartlepool for example) are in financial trouble. If Cornwall Council really has £6M to spare there are plenty of other ways they could spend the money. • Reverse the decision to stop funding all Cornwall's Day Centres for elderly, special needs, or children. • Ensure that local needs for the many are met rather than building a stadium for the few who want it. • Or even fix our potholes. There’s a Council Meeting on April 17th to discuss this so - if you don’t agree with them spending your money in this way - sign and share this petition and contact your local councillor.