Because Universal Credit is driving up demand for foodbanks ---- This petition is being run by a Member of Parliament - 38 Degrees is independent of all political parties.

Kent County Council are planning to cut the opening hours at 99 libraries. Libraries are a vital source of learning and education. They are a vital public good we cannot do without. People of all ages can enjoy borrowing and reading books, DVDs and CDs, using the internet, reading newspapers and speaking and spending time with others. The plans could mean large numbers of libraries opening for less time. Library chiefs have already drawn up suggested opening hours and some could see big reductions. For more information on the libraries facing cut in opening hours across Kent, see this article: All the Kent libraries facing a cut in their opening hours in cost-cutting move: https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/kent-libraries-facing-cut-opening-2260765#r3z-addoor

Tony has Downs syndrome and is partially sighted with no sense of direction. Our mother Margaret passed away recently. He has lived in the house all his life, and he has the support of the local community to keep him safe. Our Mother was his carer; I am now going to fill the large hole left by her passing and take care of him. I have offered to give up my tenancy in the same borough to move in and provide care for my brother. Due to the house having three bedrooms (Not large) one of which is used as his dependency room. We are being told that we can not stay at the property as it would be under-occupied by one room. The upheaval and loss would be detrimental to his health and well being.

Essex County Council have announced plans to close 25 libraries and to turn a further 19 over to be run by local communities to save money. My local library, in West Mersea, employs 2 people for 21 hours a week. Not only will they lose their jobs if these closures go ahead, but so will all the staff at the threatened 44 libraries. My library is thriving. It is always busy with people of all ages reading newspapers and periodicals, borrowing books, DVDs and CDs, accessing the internet, researching their family ancestry and speaking to others. Libraries are fantastic assets to the community and need to be saved. No libraries in Essex should be closed or downgraded to being run by volunteers The elderly population of Essex need these libraries. Many do not have computers and some of them may not speak to anyone else in their day. We need local libraries in local communities which can be accessed on foot or bike, by all sections of society. Please think again before implementing these closures.

Cole Thomson is only 6 years old and has uncontrolled focal epilepsy of which he has now become drug resistant. He has tried 16 different types of medication and had his first brain surgery when he was only 2 years old. To date nothing has been able to stop his seizures. Unfortunately there has been a steady decline in his health since May this year. Coles speech, vision, movement and memory are all continuing to deplete and he has also developed Todd Paralysis, which is extremely distressing for his 9 year old brother Dylan when he takes an attack as well as his parents, grandparents, other family members and especially 6 year old Cole himself. Currently the next step in Scotland is invasive testing, which for Cole would potentially be in the first quarter of 2019. He has a 1 in 100 chance of not surviving the operation, to see if he is a suitable candidate for further exploratory brain surgery. We are looking for your help to enable a step in between which could negate the need for surgery by allowing him legal access to cannabis based medicine. After speaking to Coles mum we became increasingly concerned at the amount of unlicensed, untested products being offered to her on the black market to apparently “help Cole”. Coles parents are unwilling to take the risk with any of these products. This does not take away from the fact that they’ve been offered unlicensed products by numerous different sellers and shows that currently there is a market feeding off of the fears of vulnerable families, who are desperately looking for answers to improve their children’s quality of life or indeed save it. We are looking to support the family by putting a campaign forward to you The Scottish Government to enable Cole to gain legal access to prescription cannabis based medicine. This would be the step before invasive surgery which would give him the opportunity to try a more natural drug which has a very high success rate for children like Cole all over the world. Please support our campaign to Save Cole Thomson by allowing him to get prescription cannabis based medicine.

School Streets are roads next to schools where traffic is restricted during the times of the day when children are arriving or leaving school. Sheffield has 25 schools in areas of high, sometimes illegal, air pollution. High air pollution levels exacerbate respiratory illnesses like asthma and recent studies have shown that children exposed to high pollution levels have reduced lung capacity that can affect them for the rest of their lives. Sheffield has a clean air strategy that already recognises the need to take action on poor air quality, especially around schools. 20mph and anti-idling initiatives are great but will not make enough of a difference. Edinburgh, Southwark, Hackney and Solihull have already implemented School Streets to protect children from traffic and traffic related pollution at the school gate. School Streets encourages active travel, improves air quality in the classroom, and reduces traffic congestion for everyone.

I want to highlight the sparsity of resources in the NHS for treating patients with eating disorders. This is a national issue but it has to begin somewhere. I mention anorexia in particular because it came into our family, but the same points apply to all eating disorders. The eating disorder charity BEAT states: "Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, from medical complications associated with the illness as well as suicide." So where is the funding? Where are the specialists? The Royal College of Psychiatrists report: “We are seeing waits of up to 16 months for non-urgent referrals. It is really worrying, because we know that the more quickly people start receiving treatment the quicker they are to respond to it.” Anorexia is an illness. Despite what some people might think, no-one chooses to be anorexic in the same way that no-one chooses cancer. It is a physical illness and it is a mental illness but it is also a neglected illness as far as the NHS is concerned. In the East Riding of Yorkshire, until recently, there was no provision for eating disorders. This year, CAMHS has established an Eating Disorder Service. What about those patients who are not children? Those patients like my own loved one. Four years ago, a beautiful, talented, artistic young lady whom I love with all my heart fell prey to anorexia and I watched in impotence as she shrank before my eyes. She was 16 and resisted medical treatment for the best part of a year. Once she accepted help, her GP was wonderful at keeping an eye on her and referring her to a general mental health therapist but there were no specialists in eating disorders or any specialist treatment. Early in 2017, when my loved one became so ill that she weighed 5 stone and had a BMI of 12, she was admitted to a gastroenterology ward at the general hospital. The doctors and nurses were marvellous but they were not experts in the treatment of eating disorders. However, they found her a place at a residential ED Clinic in Grimsby, 54 miles and a drive of an hour and a half away. Grimsby is not in East Yorkshire; it’s in Lincolnshire. Still, we were lucky. Did you see the programme, ‘Wasting Away: The Truth about Anorexia’, which told the story of news reader Mark Austin’s daughter? I watched in tears as their story unfolded in an almost carbon copy of our own. Now if someone in the public eye, with a doctor for a wife, had no clue what to do, and if help wasn’t readily available to them, then what chance did we have? Mark Austin's research taught him that there are only 200 beds for ED patients in Britain and his programme revealed a young woman from Nottingham who was sent to Edinburgh for treatment. Her mum had to make a 600 mile round trip to visit her. UK eating disorder statistics • 1.6 million people in the UK are affected by an eating disorder • 11% of the 1.6 million people struggling with an eating disorder are male • Eating disorders are more common in individuals between the ages of 14 and 25 years old • There are up to 18 new diagnoses of bulimia nervosa, per 100,000 people, per year • 1 in 100 women aged between 15 and 30, are affected by anorexia nervosa • 10% of people affected by an eating disorder suffer from anorexia nervosa • 40% of people affected by an eating disorder suffer from bulimia nervosa • The rest of sufferers fall into the BED (binge eating disorder) or OSFED (other specified feeding or eating disorder) categories of eating disorders • Research suggests that the earlier that eating disorder treatment is sought, the better the sufferer’s chance of recovery These UK eating disorder statistics are derived from data published by Beat and Mind. For the sake of the futures of our young people, we need to hold the government to account, locally and nationally, to keep their promises and to ensure that there is money in every local authority for ED Services.

It takes 7 mins to cross as a pedestrian with the lights, so people take risks running across. There's no safe cycle route, but it could be much safer with a few dropped kerbs and some paint. It is monstrous that the proposed Highways England scheme does not take this into account. We need a regular combined pedestrian/cyclist phase over this dangerous junction. Also, eg: - pavement alteration for bikes by derelict hairdresser and opposite for bikes. - crossing point is needed from station across to Athelstan Rd - over just Bitterne Rd West instead of multiple crossings. - traffic calming needed by the concrete blocks on Bullar Rd, as the crossing is often ignored by vehicles. Please join us on 18th Nov: https://www.facebook.com/events/266846273945353/ (or contact us via http://www.southamptoncyclingcampaign.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/ )

Hamilton Street is not suitable for a Hotel as it is a residential area with limited parking. A 13 bedroom hotel could attract more than 15 cars (staff included) to an already congested and busy street which has Atherton's only high school and is a route for many primary school children going to St Michael's and Parklee. A hotel is open 24 hours with people coming and going at various times day and night this will cause noise and disturbance for the streets residents. How do we know that it will not become a hostel with up to 26 people or more living in it once planning permission is granted. Many people are already of the view that this is a trick to mask a more sinister plan by the applicant. The area around the war memorial has been made an area of beauty for all the community, a Hotel directly opposite is likely to ruin all the hard work and effort which has been carried out by local people to make the area so great again. A hostel could mean our War Memorial is used as a hangout area. On a personal note I have young children and am deeply concerned about the large number of strangers that would staying overnight in a hotel/hostel close to my family with no one there to manage the hotel overnight. The plans show only 1 full time job and 2 part time so it doesn't imply a traditional hotel where staff are on site 24/7 I have lived on Hamilton Street for over 18 years and cannot believe that a proposal like this could be considered. Please support us in preventing this application from being accepted. You can view the application at https://apps.wigan.gov.uk/planapps/PlanAppsDetails.asp?passAppNo=A/18/86272/CU Thank you

The proposed road will force over 400 village school children and residents in the valley to breathe polluting, health harming, diesel freight traffic fumes. It would bring deadly traffic pollution and noise from freight vehicles into an environmentally sensitive valley that houses two primary schools. The list of long term effects of air pollution on children and the elderly is growing almost daily. Wales has a Future Generations Act designed to ensure we consider the needs of future generations, but this road, aimed at servicing the loss making Cardiff Airport which is actually owned by the Welsh Assembly Government, means the future health of Ely Valley school children and residents appears to have been abandoned. The Welsh Assembly Government is planning on spending £100+ million of taxpayers money on this road that will service their own business. The children affected by these plans have no voice. We must speak for them.

Is important to give something back to the people of St Helens and surrounding areas, this show was something to look forward to each year and now its gone and we have nothing

Brooklands was initially designed as a pleasure park, not an educational nature facility. On the door step are many settings more equipped to be such places like widewater, pullbourough brooks, woods mill, southwater, swanbourne lake and of course the downs. What the locality doesn't have is an abundance of accesible, fun places to go and in fact, Brooklands was West sussex's first accesible play park! With a 2 millions pound budget it seems very little thought has gone in to what the area wants to retain from the original park instead favouring a blank slate approach. Children enjoy water play, play parks and indeed trains. A large indoor leisure facility isn't required to make it a rainy day attraction instead a small soft play area as before is enough for children. The new plans sound good but they miss out the very young and the disabled and take away a lot of the fun. We should be aiming to make attractions more accesible, currently there is wheelchair swings, roundabout and the train was accesible there seems no plans to parallel or better this. This review is one which highlights how important the facilities are or at least were and could be again for everyone. https://www.euansguide.com/venues/brooklands-pleasure-park-sompting-5611/reviews/brooklands-pleasure-park-totally-wheelchair-friendly-for-kids-1931