On 24 April 2020, Statutory Instrument 445* removed and weakened legal protections from children in care (and children who could come into care) in England. There was no public consultation or Parliamentary debate. The changes were brought in overnight. Councils in England are now allowed to reduce social worker visits to children in care (which can be by phone, video or other electronic means). Even a six-weekly telephone call is no longer mandatory. The duty to have an independent six-monthly review for each child has been removed. Pre-court scrutiny and other vital safeguards in adoption have been lost. Legal timescales for children's homes inspections have been removed, and independent scrutiny of children's homes diluted. Safeguards for children placed out of their home area with people who are not connected to them have been removed. Safeguards in relation to short breaks have been removed. This particularly affects disabled children. Even duties on fostering services to notify Ofsted of criminal convictions and infectious disease have been reduced. These changes weaken vital safeguards for vulnerable children built up over 70 years. The government says the changes are temporary until 25 September 2020 “unless extended”. But some of the changes extend beyond the expiry date. Moreover, the government has a track record of trying to remove and dilute councils’ duties. In 2016/17, Ministers tried to get a law through Parliament which would have allowed councils to opt out of their children’s social care duties for up to six years – as an experiment for removing them altogether. Children’s rights campaigners and charities have consistently stood together to successfully defend children’s legal protections. Please join us in pressing to urgently reinstate children’s rights in care. *Its full title is The Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.

Many British citizens are stranded in Guatemala and are being left to make their own arrangements with little to no guidance from our embassy except to go to a potentially dangerous border. Some have infants or are in other compromised situations (medication potentially running out etc.) Furthermore many tourists are scattered throughout the country and there is a curfew now in place. Mr Raab needs to organise for British nationals to have special dispensation for a period of time to travel to an international airport.

Hundreds of British citizens are stranded in Peru. Other countries have organized repatriation flights to bring them home. One flight so far has been sent to Lima to bring a group of people back to the UK. There are still very large numbers of people left in the lurch who have had little or no information from the Foreign Office about what is being done. Many tourists have been cramped into rooms in hostels in desperately difficult conditions and some are running out of vital supplies Furthermore many tourists are scattered throughout the country and there is a curfew. Mr Raab needs to organise for British nationals to have special dispensation for a period of time to travel to an international airport.

Watch the video about the campaign here: https://youtu.be/3EE38TySdSE My name is Leyla Preston. I have three children and I own a parenting magazine called Motherhood Diaries (www.motherhooddiaries.com). In the summer of 2019, I joined a campaign with The Association of Play Industries (API Play) called #PlayMustStay which encourages parents to visit their local parks and playgrounds with their children and keep them off the screens. Cast your mind back to when you were a child. I remember always being outdoors and spending most of my time playing with my friends. I only ever came home when it was time for dinner or sleep. It was such a fun time, and I really enjoyed being outside socialising and burning my energy. As a result, I have such fond memories of playing at my local park/playground, which was just minutes away from me on foot. Nowadays, children have a very different life, most of which is now spent indoors, because of diminishing parks and playgrounds and the constant lure of screens. In 2016, API Play researched into the state of England’s parks and playgrounds and found that local authorities had already closed 347 playgrounds to date. Next year, they plan to further decrease their spend on play facilities by almost £25 million per year, which means more parks/playgrounds will close. And once they’re gone, they’re gone forever! This means a lot of communities cannot get to their local park or playground, and the vicious circle of keeping our children indoors will continue–and how do you occupy your children when you have millions of things to do yourself? Screens! As with everything, a balance is key but this new world is seeing an epidemic of excessive screen time, which has led to childhood obesity, mental health issues and sleep problems because kids are not getting enough exercise and mental stimulation from unstructured outdoor play, which is deemed more beneficial than structured play. Don’t forget that play also encourages social interaction, physical and mental development and, of course, learning through play. We need to take back control and together with our local communities encourage our local government to increase their spend on parks and playgrounds and make them understand that this cut, which they think will save money will cost more in the long run through medical expenses alone. I am not alone in thinking this. Mumsnet surveyed 1,111 parents with children aged two to twelve years old and found that 72% of parents with children who suffer health issues like obesity agree that lack of outdoor play has played a role in their child's health problems. We need more access to parks and playgrounds, but we can’t do this on our own. The government must understand how vitally important our beautiful pockets of nature are to our kids by urging them to stop closing our parks and playgrounds and increase their spend so more parents can get to their local park. Not all parents have access to a car or public transport, so let’s build more parks and playgrounds and have them on our doorstep, so we are not pulled in by the lure of screens. We will be paid back in dividends for the rest of ours and our children’s lives. Please sign the petition so we can bring this issue of not enough parks and playgrounds to the government for review. Thank you so much for your time and consideration. Check out my full article and video on the Winter's Tale campaign here: http://bit.ly/PlayMustStayWinterTale https://youtu.be/3EE38TySdSE Learn more about the campaign here - https://www.api-play.org/news-events/play-must-stay-campaign/ Follow our story on Instagram here - https://www.instagram.com/motherhooddiaries https://www.api-play.org/playmuststay-a-winters-tale/

Victoria Park is a hub of the community with families and children using the play park, walkers milling through, with recreational sports and events taking place on the green. The play park is used by locals, and visitors the area, it is a wonderful addition to the town. Our aim is to apply for funding as part of Aberfeldy Road Safety Sub Group to achieve a safer entrance/area to the park for all ages, which I am sure you agree is much needed vital change. Success in the competition for funds, will depend in part on demonstrating widespread community support and a Partnership approach, which this petition allows us to achieve.

It is important to Mick as he enjoys his job & the interaction that it gives him with the local community. It is important more now than ever as he has just lost his wife & this helps him to move on a little bit & keep himself busy. But it is important to the community especially the parents & their children who cross with him to get to school. He ensures their safety on which is a dangerous junction otherwise. People are being put at risk while he is not there & the children miss seeing him as it is part of their daily routine

As a 2 full time working parents household with two children needed childcare for us to go to work, we cannot get help with our childcare cost and it’s leaving us next to nothing to live off, why should we work 37 hours a week 5 days a week for nothing?? Things need to change 15 hours funding for 2 year olds go to low income families or for non working families! Is this right??? 30 hours is amazing but it doesn’t help me till my child is 3, my childcare is twice my mortgage, help is needed for us working parents, universal credits is a joke with a income cut off point which is so low this needs lifting as minimum wage goes up but so does the cost of living,

Because in one week alone I’ve had two near accidents with my little girl on a less than a minute walk to school. I am not the only one but I won’t stand by and wait for an accident to happen before Chang’e is made. I want to protect my child and every other child in the community. Promote safety and change ! Our community was rushed and it’s known as home to so many of us and we want it completed with the paramount safely of our children in mind .

Andrew Scott has such a talent for storytelling, he has demonstrated this on stage for many years. Recently, he has recorded audio for the complete collection of Beatrix Potter books. This is not widely available though and, if he appeared on the world-renowned Bedtime Stories, he could reach a greater range of people who are missing out on his spell-binding accounts of wonderful authors/writers. The programme would attract a large parent following due to his appeal from before and after his Moriarty/Hot Priest roles. After all; tired parents need a little present at the end of the day.

As a Widowed parent I know first hand how devastating it is to find yourself in this life. Not every person has life insurance, a decent pension, savings or has an estate to leave their loved ones. To struggle every month while dealing with grief and the grief of your child. Always worrying if all the bills will be covered, constantly having to go without, missing meals to make sure your children eat, always having to say no when your child asks for treats. Having to ask for food vouchers so you can go to a food bank to keep the cupboards stocked or having to ask family for help even though your still working as much as you can. We are purposely left to struggle in the worst possible moments of life because we were not married to our partners at the time of their death. The government do not even recognise us as widows or our children as bereaved due to being unmarried. It has been acknowledged that this is wrong and has to change and there are charities already campaigning but still nothing has been done and families like mine are suffering because of it. This is wrong and it has to be changed now.

The child maintenance service is failing children in the UK. Loopholes are allowing parents to avoid paying child maintenance, even when they can afford it. The way that child maintenance rates are calculated is leaving children in poverty. Families are being left waiting for months without any support while they wait for applications to be processed. I use the child maintenance service, and I’ve started this petition because I want the government to fix the system to make sure that all children can get the support they need. I’m calling on the government to: - Put provisions in place to make sure that no matter the circumstance, children receive the support they need. - Reduce the waiting times so that parents are not left for weeks on end without enough money to support their children. - Close loopholes that allow parents who can afford child maintenance to avoid paying.

The importance of Stoke Lodge to the local community is strongly-felt, widespread and enduring: ● Two applications for Town or Village Green status show the strength of feeling about this space. The Inspector at the first TVG concluded that all tests for TVG status were met apart from one (‘as of right’ access) which is not relevant to the test for LGS. ● Our community has raised substantial funds and committed significant time over a sustained period to maintain access as of right. ● Over 4,100 Bristolians signed a petition calling on the Council to protect open access. ● Stoke Lodge has not one but two supporters’ groups, with over 1,800 members in aggregate who devote significant amounts of time not just to campaigning but also to gardening and other voluntary projects to protect and improve this amazing space. Please revise your assessment of Stoke Lodge. It is the epicentre of a community and is unique and irreplaceable – it fulfils all the criteria for Local Green Space and we strongly believe it should be given the higher level of protection.