We the undersigned condemn HMRC’s decision to bring in unpaid benefits claimants to undertake PAYE processing work on taxpayers records. We note this comes at a time where HMRC is unable to deliver on its business targets due to chronic understaffing. Movement to Work (MTW) is a government scheme aimed at 18-24 year olds who are not in education, employment or training. Officially a programme of vocational training and work experience, it actually is the latest incarnation of the government’s ‘workfare’ programme – providing employers free labour by making the unemployed work for their benefits. The Civil Service is one of the core providers in this scheme, meaning that the government itself is one of the main beneficiaries of unpaid labour. In HMRC, the employer wants to double those brought in from 1,000 to 2,000, and if successful that number could increase even further. The potential for these placements to carry out work that should be done by paid staff, covering up staffing shortfalls in a climate of job cuts and office closures, is patently obvious. Personal Tax has taken the brunt of job cuts in HMRC, with over 5,000 staff lost in the past five years. This has created a staffing crisis wherein the Department has failed to answer adequate numbers of calls and been left with huge backlogs of work, which they have then tried to cover up through the use of overtime and dragging workers out of other work areas (often with the result of additional backlogs there) to answer calls during peak times. The use of claimants is just another way to mask the backlogs. Why employ additional staff if you can get the work done for free? Why offer existing staff overtime if you can draft in more claimants to do the job? Why bargain with the workforce through their trade union when it’s so easy to draft in the unemployed at no additional cost? Why take any steps to prevent further job losses or office closures with a reserve army of labour on call? The first tranche of MTW placements in Bootle number just ten. But the potential for this number to increase exponentially remains a threat to our jobs and working conditions, especially as they are being put on Work Management Items, the contingency work for the AO grade in Personal Tax, at a time when the department wants to half the number of items on hand. It must also be said that MTW is exploitation of the placements themselves. They are doing the work of paid staff for no more than their dole, and treated as a disposable resource by an unscrupulous employer who doesn’t want to pay the rate for the job or foot the bill for the actual number of staff needed.

Mary Street Parcel Office is in a convenient centrally located position. But Royal Mail intend to close the Mary Street Parcel Office and move all parcels to Wearfield, at Sunderland Enterprise Park, near Wessington Way. The Wearfield site it is more difficult to access by public transport. Many people will have to take 2 busses to reach it, and then walk to the new site. This will unfairly affect those without their own transport, as well as those with mobility issues including the elderly and those with disabilities affecting their mobility. The move will result in job losses. 5 out of 10 employees in Mary Street will loose their jobs. Staff are having to attend interviews for the remaining 5 jobs. On top of this there will be an environmental impact as customers are forced to have their parcels redirected rather than picking them up at their own convenience whilst already shopping in town. In order to cut costs Royal Mail are putting profit before people. Please sign the petition to let Royal Mail bosses know that the people of Sunderland demand the service that they are paying for and will not stand for the job losses or environmental impact caused by this unfair and ill considered move.

Cuts to the adult skills budget will mean that one million adults will have no access to learning and skills. The learning and skills system includes more than schools and universities. In the next decade there will be 13.5 million job vacancies and only 7 million young people entering the job market. The best way to meet the shortfall is to train people of working age. Skills shortages require greater investment, not cuts. Politicians are concerned about middle class parents and opportunities for their children to access university or apprenticeships and are unconcerned about the 5 million hard-working people on low pay or the unemployed because they have no voice and are less likely to vote. Adult Education caters for the learning needs of a wide range of people, including many from vulnerable or disadvantaged groups. At a time when 730,000 16-24 year-olds are unemployed and 15% of 16-64 year-olds have no qualifications at all, the continuing programme of cuts is a national scandal. Here are some typical experiences of people who have benefited from adult education - “When I left school, there were no jobs. Luckily college gave me a course. I did some English and maths and now I’m doing great on my tiling course.” “I came here from Afghanistan when I was 15. It was hard at first but I’m on track now at college, studying BTEC science – I really want to do a degree in pharmacy.” I had to leave education early when I got pregnant. Health and social care at college is my path to a career in social work and a better life for me and my kids” “I was an engineer in Colombia. I’m now working as a cleaner and studying plumbing and English at college in the evening. I hope to get a good job after my course.” “I retired last year and was at a real loss. I popped into my local college and I’m now taking photography and still-life. I’m meeting new people and learning new skills.” Investment in adult education not only provides a route out of unemployment and an escape from low-paid jobs, it also offers hope and dignity and can unleash talent, ambition and energy which will benefit society as a whole.

Simple democracy.

The Short Breaks service is very important to all the families with disabled children in Hounslow. It is all about inclusion in society. Some of our families only use this service to take their disabled children out - due to cost or embarrassment because of societies attitude towards disability. Due to their family committments - this is the only networking some parents do. You hear in the media about parents comitting suicide and taking their disabled children with them. If you realised the daily stress we are under you wouldn't cut this service, because you would appreciate it's value to the family as a whole.

These nurseries are the foundation of our communities, our history and development. Some of these nurseries have been in our communities for over fifty years, giving 3 generations in some families of education with well trained, dedicated staff. These important years a child develops :- Physical development Cognitive development Emotional and social development Language development Sensory and motor development Not only will the development of the above be affective, but also the parents will be too. This will result in more mother's giving up work, because of childcare issues,and more people staying on benefits longer. Also the most vulnerable children in our society, `Children with Special Educational Needs` (SEN). Most of these children don't get a diagnosis until the problems are picked up at school, especially our nursery provision, as social and emotional disabilities don't begin to surface until a child starts school. There will be other issues effected by this, such as teacher's, LSAs and other support staff, including dinner and kichen staff all are at risk of job loss, reduction of hours and redundancies. Please support our petition and campaign to save our nurseries.

The original constitution of the Labour Party included a section known as Clause 4 which promised: "To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service." Tony Blair scrapped Clause Four as it did not fit in with his conservative ideals. It is time for the Labour Party to return to its original purpose and fight for working people and those least able to fight for themselves.

Hale Library is more than a library its community space which is used by groups and all ages of the community. It has an area for displays & exhibitions It ha sa tourist information and important local what's on

Morale is very low in the Ambulance service. Although they are one of the services responding to 999 calls they are NOT classed as an Emergency service and are paid less than Fire & Rescue staff or the police. The work they do should be properly recognised in the pay they receive. Recruitment and retention are major problems and staff shortages result in them frequently working well over their 12 hour shifts.

The Queens Sovereign Grant for 2014-15 was £37.9 million, although this is a drop in the ocean according to republic.org.uk which estimates that "When all [the] hidden expenditure is included, the real cost of the monarchy to British taxpayers is likely to be over £299m annually". There is no way this can be seen as value for money, especially while the most vulnerable in our society are facing the prospect of an even more savage cap in the amount a household can receive in what (for the most part) is a vital, and necessary, lifeline. To find out more about the campaign visit www.charliekb.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/slash-their-benefits/ www.joshua-hill-walsh.com/

Why should a private company have the ability to spuriously withdraw benefits from single mothers? Threatening them in the process. If they have taken on the job they expect to profit and the only way they can is by cutting benefits by hook or by crook. This is another scandal of ASOS proportions. Read more here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/people-in-need-at-risk-of-losing-tax-credits-after-being-wrongly-accused-of-cheating-10060745.html

Barts Health NHS Trust is the biggest hospital trust in England, running six hospitals including Whipps Cross, Newham University and The Royal London. It has the biggest health PFI and the biggest deficit. We the undersigned note that: a) Barts Health NHS Trust is in financial crisis with a £93m deficit, the Chief Executive recently resigned, and pending reports on the quality of care and worsening A&E waiting times soon to be released; b) Barts Health NHS Trust is paying £43m a year in interest payments to private investors on the PFI contracts; c) This is a main cause of Barts Health’s deficit and its £58m of cuts last year, including the loss of 10% of posts and the downbanding of staff; d) The PFI contracts make our hospitals outsource key services (like domestics services and catering) to private providers; even when it is more expensive. Barts Health saved 7% of the costs of some services provided under the PFI (or £4m per year) by bringing them in-house. - Learn more about Barts PFI at www.peoplevsbartspfi.wordpress.com - Learn more about PFIs at www.peoplevspfi.org.uk