Councils and Councillors now have significant control of railways in the North. Twenty nine Councils make up a new body called “Rail North.” Although Rail North cannot decide whether our railways should be publicly owned (which is what most passengers would prefer!) they will be deciding on many important issues that affect passengers. This includes train service levels and what station and train staff will be available to assist passengers and protect their safety. One of Rail North’s first big decisions will be to help determine with the government the rail franchise agreements for Northern Rail and Transpennine Express Trains (TPE) services. These agreements start on 1st April 2016, shortly before the local elections in May. Worryingly the current proposed franchise agreements mean there will be fewer rail staff to help passengers and protect their safety. There are no guarantees that ticket offices will be kept open. And no safeguards that as many stations as possible will have properly trained and directly employed station staff to help passengers. In fact there will be cuts to rail jobs.

It is important to commend and support as well as to challenge,

On 14th September the Vice Chancellor and Student Services Director at the Open University announced plans to close seven English regional centres in Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Gateshead and London. They claim this is with the aim of putting students first and giving them a better support services experience. 500 highly qualified, experienced and dedicated staff members stand to lose their jobs or face having to compete to retain their posts at another location with all the disruption this causes. Worst of all is that their academic and student support expertise would be lost. The Open University has already closed one regional centre and transferred student services from a regional to a faculty based model. This already means that students who once could have all their support needs met in one team might now have to contact as many as four separate teams for this. Increasing reliance on online resources also leaves students floundering when they could previously speak to a student support expert as a first resort. The plans to close offices and jettison staff teams with as much as 190 years of academic and student support experience among them, for new, inexperienced staff working in call centre conditions are only likely to further reduce the quality of service students can expect

Production of steel in the North East provides thousands of people with employment in either the SSI Steel Plant or in a service industry allied to the plant. This year the UK government has already supported '...vital South Wales Industries'. Secretary of State Stephen Crabb said, 'The substantial investment announced by the Prime Minister earlier this year is a clear example of this Government’s determination to re-balance the economy and strengthen every part of the Uk'. Teesside and the Redcar plant are yet another part of the UK that needs strengthening. What's good enough for South Wales is good enough for the North East. Think on - once it's gone it's gone!

Camden NSL workers made over £24 million profit for Camden Council last year and contributed to NSL’s £18 million plus profits for the same period. Working as a Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO: the new term for traffic warden) is a hard and dangerous job. You work in all weather conditions and have to put up with regular verbal abuse and all too often physical attacks. In return you are paid badly and receive very little support or respect from your employers or members of the public. CEOs have to gain qualifications which cover the intricacies of parking law and the other requirements of the job. The workers' union, Camden Unison, originally requested a pay rate of £10.50 per hour, the rate NSL workers receive in some other London boroughs. However following negotiations the workers agreed they would settle for a rate of £9.50 per hour, but the employers are only offering £9.15 per hour. These workers rightly feel they deserve to earn more than the current minimum wage needed to survive in London, and they have since taken at least 11 days of strike action in support of their claim. Please support our campaign for a decent increase for these low paid workers.

For the health and well being of all staff, also properly paid for the actual hours they work, when salaried they are getting well below the minimum wage Chefs have to work 12/16 hours a day and especially if they are Michelin starred, lack of sleep , lack of breaks and daily pressures have an extreme detrimental effect on them with lots of them turning to supplements (caffeine red bull pro plus) but also what is very common is amphetamines. This year I was made aware of a famous chef near London, where staff started at 6 and finished at 12/1. Some staff were even taking some of the veg up to their rooms to prep for the morning. There seems to be no rules governing hours and conditions in this industry. In France because of the unions chefs are only allowed to work 8 hours a day

Those who want to retire have the choice

The NHS is internationally envied for its clinical excellency, efficiency and moral courage. Following the purchaser provider split and changes under New Labour in the late 1990's, the introduction of private contracting has diverted profits from services out of the NHS into wealth creating companies. Subsequently healthcare professionals and patients have seen and felt the NHS change for the worse. Since this Conservative party came into government they have undertaken steps to undermine the financial viability and safety of care provided by the NHS through an ideological choice of chronic underfunding. To quote Noam Chomsky, "that's the standard technique of privatisation: defund, make sure things don't work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital". They are now targeting staff and junior doctors. Following negotiations with the BMA doctors union, the department of health offered an unacceptable contract which would reduce patient safety, increase junior doctor fatigue, reduce recognized out-of-hours commitment, and significantly reduce take-home pay. When junior doctors refused the governments precondition to accept ALL of these proposals as a basis to a final contract as a condition of restarting negotiations, the BMA found themselves accused of ‘walking away’ from the table and informed that the contract would simply be imposed upon them in August 2016. Junior doctors, side by side with other healthcare professionals, work in an increasingly pressurised and under-resourced setting, and are known as the medical workhorse of the NHS. Their current working pattern is antisocial and labour intensive, as anybody who lives with or is friends with a junior doctor will know. Tiredness is compounded by a sense of disenchantment, which may explain why these professional healthcare groups did not feel energised enough to understand or stand up to the government on their introduction of the Health and Social Care Act in 2012. Legislation which is leading to the erosion of the NHS in the hands of a Jeremy Hunt, who prior to his appointment as health minister wrote of this ideological support for privatisation of the NHS. Junior doctors now face a situation where their self-perceived head to the ground and carry-on grafting attitude is being rewarded by a contract which is estimated to lead to a startling 20-40% reduction in take home wages depending on speciality, and longer and less protected shifts. The new system would provide us with the assurance of a 20 minute break per 11 hour shift worked. Fatigue from grueling shifts are acknowledged to cause impaired performance, a sobering and concerning fact for patients. We as junior doctors accept that our pay has declined against inflation for years. However, we are asking that this government's ideological CHOICE to devalue our profession, and take money and morale from junior doctors, when the financial privileges freedoms of the very rich and financial sector are protected, be acknowledged and challenged. We oppose government ministers with personal wealth of millions using our wages, which when compared to other peers with similar backgrounds in university and post-graduate years in training are modest, as another excuse to paint the NHS as 'unaffordable'. An NHS which is acknowledged as excellent in the care it delivers, and one of the most efficient services on the planet. This Junior Doctor contract campaign must form part of a wider effort to oppose the overarching plan to ultimately do away with the NHS. As things stand, in 20 years, I as a junior doctor will be working as a private consultant for a private health provider, possibly earning more than an NHS consultant, but paying for my own and my families healthcare in times of greatest vulnerability. I would not chose to be treated by, or treat on behalf of, private companies and insurance merchants for whom profit is the primary concern. A great many who earn less than me may go without the best chances of surviving illness due to their bank balance. I reject that future. I wish to work proudly as an NHS doctor, in the United Kingdom. I believe that patients also wish to be treated by a trustworthy NHS rather than a private company. An NHS staffed by motivated, valued and supported professionals and not by profit. Please sign this petition to support junior doctors, the NHS, and the public.

The Academies Enterprise Trust, the Department of Education along with various Isle of Wight councillors have an intended decision to close Weston Primary Academy. The Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan has " in principal " agreed to this decision. This agreeance is based solely on the AeT and DfE paperwork, that seems to be based on a projected "forecast" that has yet to be released to the public. Not foregoing that all of the teaching staff, work staff and the parents of the 56 children who attend were informed by an email, followed promptly by a letter, inevitable job losses will occur - zero consultation with those that matter has taken place behind closed doors. We now find ourselves in a public consultation period **edit : there is NO public consultation, only a time to air views and opinions** that has a limited time-scale to air any counter arguments or views. The purpose of this petition is to clearly show that our beloved school has supporters. Weston Primary is the only non-denominational school locally, and whilst its numbers are relatively small, it does not suffer from large over capacity as some others locally do, consequently the children and parents have an amazing " Team Weston"-spirit, everyone really matters here. With a lot of recent housing developments in the West Wight region, and acute awareness that schools are becoming overcrowded, it makes no sense to close this school based on a forecast, when the school is getting on its feet and showing marked improvement. The AeT has over the summer period spent an undisclosed sum of money bringing much needed modernisation to the school. If the school is shut down, it would be a huge waste of resources. The adjoining nursery has also seen investment and is already showing that it is feeding more and more directly into the school itself. As people move into the local area, I suspect that Weston will see a marked increase in admissions. We at Team Weston are appealing directly to you, the reader, to show your support for this school. You may be an old pupil or parent of an old pupil, you may have had an association with the school in the past or present. maybe you understand that good schools should be kept open, especially considering this school is well over 100 years old. Please, please take a few moments to sign to show your support for us in our battle. It might just be the linchpin that sways the final decision in our favour. Kindest regards - George Metcalf

There is currently no safe way to cycle between Totnes and Newton Abbot. The A381 is the only route over the river Dart and it is simply too dangerous for cyclists. Access to footbridge, the only other bridge over the river, would enable cyclists and walkers to travel safely out of Totnes to the north east and west. This would ease congestion and improve the health and wellbeing of the residents of Totnes and Newton Abbot and all the villages that lie between. In addition, this route would serve to complete the missing link in the National Cycle Network. The route in question is called NCN2 and runs from Dover to St Austell. The missing link lies between Totnes and Newton Abbot. However, Devon County Council want to sign off an alternative route that bypasses Totnes altogether. We believe that this is a huge missed opportunity as it will have a negative impact on the town in the form of lost revenue from cycle tourism. Please help support our campaign by asking Devon Council not to bypass our town but to directly liaise with South Devon Railway to appease their concerns regarding security. The bridge was part funded by public money and is a valuable asset to Totnes and its transport infrastructure. However, it is only being used exclusively for customers of the railway and not for the overall benefit of the community. We need the council to help us convince the railway that we can secure their important tourist attraction and that opening up access to the bridge would actually benefit their business going forward. We have had discussions with both South West Water and the only private landowner involved, and neither have any serious objections to our proposal. Our petition has generated almost 3000 signatures, many with comments expressing the importance of the scheme to the local and wider community. What we are missing is support from Devon Council. We do not need another study, we do not need any more consultants, there are no other routes that offer value for money. Our proposal is a valid practical solution with many benefits to the local community in terms of congestion, health and tourism. Our proposal is backed by the community, Sustains, all the local schools, local businesses, local and regional MP's and is backed by South Hams District Council. We appreciate the cycle path will require an estimated £300,000 (although we believe this estimate to be excessive). We are happy to co-ordinate the funding process going forward, however this option will never come to fruition if we don't get agreement in the first place. So please Devon County Council - please don't sign off the National Cycle Network Route 2 so that it bypasses Totnes. Instead please get on side and help negotiate with the South Devon Railway to open up a public resource for the benefit of us all.

For his evidence, MP Alistair Burt cites the NHS Staff Survey. The survey, he admits, "DOES NOT directly measure staff morale". MP Alistair Burt's statement, September 2015: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2015-09-14.10139.h&s=speaker%3A10770#g10139.r0 The Staff Survey asks about staff motivation at work, staff recommending their trust as a place to work or receive treatment, and the percentage of staff able to contribute towards improvements at work. This "has remained high", indicating NHS staff care about their job, their department and continually improving their service- something we should all be proud of. Protest marches, union campaigns, news pieces and #iminworkjeremy doesn't seem to be getting the message through to MP Alistair Burt, Jeremy Hunt or the Department of Health. We need to give MP Alistair Burt and his team undeniable evidence that NHS staff morale IS affected by the pay freeze. We need to answer the question that wasn't asked in the NHS Staff Survey. We need to give him a DIRECT MEASURE OF STAFF MORALE. Please join us, whether you are an NHS employee; spouse, friend or family of an employee; a supporter of your local NHS team or of fair pay for all. Lend your moral support to our NHS staff morale campaign. Thank you.

Between April 24 and May 14 2013, three young workers at Foxconn electronics factory in Zhengzhou, China, jumped from buildings to their deaths. 24 others have committed suicide since 2010 because of appalling conditions, such as being sacked if you speak at work, and ritual humiliations in front of hundreds of colleagues. Foxconn are making computers for Dell, Apple, Acer, HP and others. Computers for universities are made in factories like this. A new organisation, Electronics Watch, will work with public sector bodies and electronics workers, to investigate factories making our computers, and start to improve rights and working conditions. The Workers Rights Consortium is a similar body with a focus on the clothing industry.