Having my own experiences for the last fourteen years of the father of my two children who, became a notorious non-compliant 'paying parent', and manipulated the CSA system, and now the CMS system to his advantage, in order to avoid paying any child maintenance, it is time to STOP this happening. The current system is incapable of collecting any maintenance for 14 years! I know of a significant number of other families who have the same experience and will continue to do so, if this financial abuse of children, is not stopped NOW. There are many, many problems with the way the UK collect child maintenance and this petition address one of them that will resolve instantly the problems, including poverty, experienced by those receiving parents who do not receive any child maintenance at all, or at best, sporadic payments. My children's father is a full time senior school teacher and earning further undisclosed income. He, personally, chose to job hop when he realised he could change employers frequently and knew the system would not catch up with him until someone, i.e. me, found him and provided the details - then he is off again having been provided with notice of when an attachment of earnings order is to become effective. Too many families are experiencing this. The current system does not work. All this can STOP by CHANGING THE PAYING PARENTS' TAX CODE i.e. using existing CODING OUT adjustments with HMRC. It is that simple. The child maintenance is collected before. the 'paying parent' is paid into their or, indeed, 'another person's' account - as so often can be the case (not illegal, albeit continuing deviance). Improvements to the HMRC interface with the CMS ought to be able to show up-to-date earnings and apply the relative percentage child maintenance that applies to any paying parent. If anyone of us owes any government department any money there is legislation in place to change tax codes - relative to amount of debt and earnings - so the same method should be enforced for child maintenance! This method of collection of CM saves a significant and often, ultimately worthless amount of time, on behalf of government staff, resources and, thereby, tax payers money; but, also, a significant deal of stress to the receiving parent and the children who are suffering from the financial abuse on behalf of a significant proportion of so-called 'paying parents', who deliberately avoid detection by job-hopping and income diversion. It is a no-brainer not to collect at the level of taxation. The lives of the 'paying parent's' biological children improves on a financial level and, therefore, an emotional level by, not having to 'go without' constantly because their 'paying parent' avoids maintenance, or misses payments. Children's self-esteem is thereby improved exponentially. This, in turn, reduces mental health problems for both them and their 'receiving parent' and, thus, future social problems and mental health services they may access as a result. This action is needed NOW as those dishonest 'paying parents' have already demonstrated they will not pay by any means. We have over £35,000 in arrears by the CMS figure (closer to £100,000 but needing further validation), which can also be collected via tax code without breaching the 40% protected earnings threshold. Often any enforcement action available is, at best, ineffective especially if they ensure they have no collateral to enforce debts against - as is our case. This is nothing to do with contact issues that exist with many families. It is to to STOP non-compliant 'paying parents' from avoiding paying child maintenance and leaving their children often in poverty! Any families reading this who are experiencing these problems need to sign the petition now; and anyone at all who supports this action. You might be without children, a grandparent or an honest paying parent. PLEASE, PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION. And, finally, in order to provide further support for the above, please CONTACT YOUR OWN MP, to bring this coding out issue to the attention of the Houses of Parliament. AND SHARE this link on your social media accounts! The original draft bill on behalf of Heidi Allen has been postponed until October 2018. In the meantime, she has confirmed to me she in touch with the relevant Minister discussing her draft bill, and has raised the coding out concerns I have brought to her attention to collect child maintenance. The October 2018 date is listed in case it is still needed to get her proposals accepted. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

With the increasing popularity of the North Coast 500 (NC500), promoted in part by Highland Council, we are seeing ever-growing numbers of visitors to the NW Highlands and these people also require access to facilities in order to avoid more cases of human waste being left by the roadside. As part of its budget proposals for 2018/2019 Highland Council are closing public toilets at the following locations in the county of Sutherland: Achmelvich, Kinlochbervie, Rhiconich, Scourie, Smoo Cave, Lairg, Kylesku, Talmine, and Tarbet. The total estimated savings come to just £67,000 per year yet we consider these to be essential services, both for local people and tourists & others visiting the area. Additionally, these closures will discriminate against the elderly, infirm, disabled, and those with long-term illnesses whose ability to do without a regular rest break is impaired. Highland Council's suggested alternatives, such as making use of facilities in nearby businesses and village halls, are both impractical and presumptuous. Do the decent thing, Highland Council: Scrap your plans to close these public toilets.

Thousands of people from Commonwealth countries, whose families were invited to live and work in the UK when our country needed them most, are now facing deportation. They’re entitled to citizenship - the problem is the evidence they need to provide is too difficult to gather. These people have served this country as citizens, working in hospitals, in public transport and many other walks of life. They have been here since they were children. Their parents came here, often at the invitation of the government, to address staff shortages in vital areas of public services. Their children and grandchildren live here. This is their home. The UK has a debt to pay them and our government should not be treating them with such callous disregard for their welfare and such disrespect for what they have contributed to this country.

Anna Campbell was an utterly committed and courageous woman who put her belief in social justice before her own life. This commitment took her to Syria to fight the Islamic State and Isil, and whilst fighting alongside the female Kurdish Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in northern Syria, she was tragically killed by turkish airstrikes last week on the 15th March. I come from the same home town as Anna, and have known her family for many years. They are all truly incredible individuals who have worked tirelessly for social and environmental issues and are a credit to our small town. Now even in their grief they want to continue to raise awareness of the suffering and the cause of the Kurdish people. But they also want their daughter and sister back, so that they can say goodbye properly to the woman they love so much. Please see more information here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/21/father-british-woman-killed-syria-demands-help-repatriate-body/

This is an important asset to people in the local area and especially in the area north of the River Tees. Patients in the north of Hartlepool for example would be faced with a journey of at least 35 minutes. This is unacceptable in an emergency situation. People could be losing precious, life saving minutes if forced to travel further to recieve treatment.

My 5 year old son Murray has Doose Syndrome / Myoclonic Astatic Epilepsy (MAE). This is a rare form of epilepsy and means he lives with up to 600 seizures a DAY (4 different seizure types). He has spent months lying in a hospital bed shaking, now uses a wheelchair and has only been able to attend school for 3 weeks this year! It is very hard to control with the medicine currently available and it has been proven in other countries that medical cannabis helps people with illnesses like his. In the USA medical cannabis has helped stop the daily aggressive seizures that children with this syndrome have. The government needs to make Medicinal Cannabis legally available so that the NHS can administer it safely and change the lives of thousands of people with illnesses that could be helped by it. Thanks to the thousands of people who signed this campaign so far, Murray has now been granted a special licence to be prescribed CBD, he's the first person in Scotland to get one. But this campaign is about more than just one patient, it's about doctors being able to give all patients the medicine that could help them.

Natural Foundations is a not for profit organisation giving families a unique place to play imaginately together in all weathers. Come rain or shine, from mud stomping to sand castle building we open! We welcome families from all over Essex and beyond and are accessible to most at £4 for the day-we never turn a family away. Unfortunately Chelmsford City Council do not see the same benefits for children as our parents do and completely out of the blue they have given us 12 weeks notice to leave the land with no offer of other land or possible extension. Despite the outrage from the 8,000 families who visit us, the council have refused to give us any flexibility. This doesn't give us enough time to find another site and this doesn't give us enough time to raise the funds we need to move. We need the summer. Publicly the council have said we have until the end of May, yet our notice states the 10th. Publicly, they have also stated they will give us every bit of help they can, yet this is not happening. We ask the council to be more clear with the public and to give us some flexibility and allow us to stay longer. Please help us by signing this petition to ask the council to either rethink the notice or at least give us more time before we have to leave. Here are some comments from the families who visit us: 'So disgusted by Chelmsford council. Natural foundations has been such a big part of my son's little life. There is no sense to this. The ideas hub in town was priced out of their premises and now another invaluable place for families is under threat. Makes me so sad.' 'If we can do anything to help, please let us know. Us mums are powerful and passionate people, especially where our children are concerned' 'Me and my boys love this place. I always feel so lucky when we go that we have this wonderful resource on our doorstep. It’s so much nicer and more educational than the soft play indoors.' 'I love taking my son here, yet again the council pulls the plug on something that's non profit and great for children's development. I thought they were meant to be supporting children being outside and doing outside activities?' 'I am really, really angry to hear this. I love coming to Sandford mill for your natural foundations. It's educational and a beautiful natural environment for the children to learn and develop their skills with facilities for parking and toilets aswell as plenty of land for picnics. This is just ridiculous everything nice seems to be moved or taken away this is one of the best assets which doesn't cost a fortune in Chelmsford for children.' 'This is really sad. Natural Foundations is absolutely fantastic - the children simply love it as do us parents so I'm keeping everything crossed that you find somewhere suitable - good luck' 'Would be absolutely devastated if we lost Natural Foundations! What you’ve created is just magical! xx' 'You are amazing - we moved home to London and still try to get to you as often as we can. Really hope this situation is either resolved or that you find somewhere even better' 'You make so many children so happy and what you do is wonderful. I cannot believe the council have done this it’s outrageous'

Every child has the right to grow up in a loving family environment. Without family support refugee children risk being exploited and possibly trafficked. So Angus MacNeil MP has brought forward a Private Members’ Bill which would give refugee children the right to be safely reunited with their family in the UK. Refugee children are often fleeing danger, war and political unrest – and laws in our country are only adding to this suffering. The Refugee Family Reunion Bill would help put an end to this – and provide three key things to grant children the right to a happier future. - Give unaccompanied refugee children in the UK the right to sponsor their parents to join them - Extend the age from 18 to 25 for parents to sponsor their children to come to the UK - Reinstate legal aid for refugee family reunion cases This Bill seeks to improve the lot for people who have found themselves in the worst situation possible having fled their homeland as refugees. It has support from members from seven parties – Government and opposition. It is not party political it is a humanitarian issue and would bring the UK into line with a majority of European countries if passed. https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/public38/images/mp.gif

Maryama fled war in Somalia in 2004 and claimed asylum in Dublin. After being refused asylum she travelled to Belfast in 2011 from where she has been deported to London and Dublin many times. She cannot return to Somalia as it is personally too dangerous for her. She has been cruelly separated from her nine children for the past fourteen years. It is essential that she stay in the UK as Belfast is her home. We call on the British government to end the inhumane treatment of Maryama.

The police continually insist they value dialogue with campaigners who oppose plans to drill for oil and gas in local communities. It doesn’t feel that way, however, to people who are taking part in protests against these activities. Instead, they have condemned the way their human rights have been repeatedly trampled on by the police, how concerns raised with senior officers about aggressive policing are ignored and how formal complaints are hurriedly dismissed. Campaigners say officers have pushed them into hedges, violently dragged older people across roads, shoved others into speeding traffic and persistently made arbitrary and incomprehensible arrests.  For eighteen months, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) has kept promising to review the direction it gives local forces on the policing of these protests and at last, this now seems imminent. Despite pressure from Netpol, however, the senior officer leading the review has been extremely reluctant to consult directly with campaigners, despite their invaluable first-hand experiences of the way policing operations are conducted. We say: meaningful dialogue and genuine accountability means listening to critical voices. We want Lancashire Assistant Chief Constable Terry Woods - the NPCC Lead on Shale Gas and Oil Exploration - to take consultation seriously and formally invite members of the public to submit their testimony on the policing of local anti-fracking protests. The NPCC then needs to brief all the participants in the consultation on how its national guidance has subsequently been updated and improved.

It is inhumane to imprison people indefinitely, without being convicted of a crime, often with no legal representation. As one of the detainees has said "We want the Home Office to listen to us and stop the injustice of indefinite detention..It is the uncertainty that is most difficult, I can deal with imprisonment if I know my sentence. But here, there’s no criminal record, and no clarity about what's going to happen to me. It's a pain that we all bear on a daily basis." (Al Jazeera 28.2.18 - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/02/women-detained-yarl-wood-hunger-strike-180228195926024.html)

Introducing anti-homeless benches is not going to solve homelessness in Southampton. The council have a responsibility to support people living on the streets by providing shelters. Instead they are making it harder for those without a roof over there head to get by. Benches can provide a place to sleep that is off the ground and dryer than the floor, and sleeping in the town centre is often safer for people sleeping rough, due to CCTV. Hiding societies problems does not solve them. We want Southampton council to act now!