The ‘Paradise Papers’ are just the latest in a long line of tax scandals. The system, which is rigged to benefit the privileged few at the expense of everyone else, is broken. The impact on our public services of these corrupt practices, protected by a veil of secrecy, has been devastating. After seven years of austerity, it is time for irresponsible tax dodging to come to an end. HMRC, the government body tasked with policing the tax system, has seen its staff numbers and budget halved since it was formed in 2005. Meanwhile, the UK government has failed to take the opportunity to clean up the offshore system, in territories like Bermuda that are under its control, and make it harder for individuals and companies to avoid tax. It is little wonder that tax dodgers are taking advantage. Tax Justice UK, the country’s leading campaign organisation for a fairer tax system, is now calling for the UK government to take decisive action to end the scourge of tax avoidance, once and for all, by tightening up on enforcement and introducing new transparency rules.

Michael Fallon has admitted, and through his resignation acknowledged, that his conduct is inappropriate in a cabinet minister, or as a representative of Britain’s armed forces. We are therefore surprised and disappointed that Michael Fallon, and the Conservative Party, appear to feel that the people of Sevenoaks are entitled to a lesser standard of conduct in their representative, and call on him to resign

Xplore are proposing two alternative routes to the 32/33 bus which would cut out Forfar Road. Their consultation highlights that the route could also stay as it is. You can see the proposed two route changes at this link http://nxbus.co.uk/files/NXDundee/misc/FintryRouteReview-PublicConsultationDocument.pdf This re-routing would severely restrict people's ability for travel: • make it harder for people with disabilities and older people with mobility problems to catch a bus and get out of the house, potentially leading to loneliness and social isolation • safety concerns of having to work through a scheme to get to/and from the bus • get to and from work • visit friends and relatives • access education and training • access to hospitals, doctors, dentists and other medical services • access to leisure activities including town and countryside locations Fewer buses on the road will mean more traffic congestion and delays which affects all of us.

Local council's need fairer funding to deliver services to residents - without further funding services may be at risk.

The cuts to access to justice for those facing criminal prosecutions must be reversed before the disaster that has occurred in civil legal aid cases representation is repeated. It is essential to halt the erosion of access to legal representation in the UK when citizens are facing funded prosecution (especially by the State). The erosion of legal aid strikes at the heart of our democracy, destabilising the level playing field that Justice requires and increasingly divides the nation between those wealthy enough to buy legal services and the rest who increasingly are forced to act in person. This false economy causes delay and unplanned expense. It increases social division The present cuts are imposed despite steadily a steady reduction in legal aid expenditure (From £1,289 in 2010 -11 to £863. In 2016-17. [£’000s]. At a time when the Government is attempting to present a positive image internationally for our legal services the damage to our reputation is in fact immense: From the Bach Commission evidence ‘Appendix 5: An analysis of evidence received by the Commission’ the following stark conclusions are reached: 1) Cuts to the fees paid under the Litigators Graduated Fee Scheme (“LGFS”) make much of criminal legal aid work uneconomical; (2) The rate of remuneration for advocates in many hearings often falls below the minimum wage. (3) The application of the merits test and means tests to legal aid in the magistrates’ court and Crown Court prevents deserving clients receiving representation and causes delay. (4) The number of offices handling legal aid criminal work has gone down by 20%. Legal advice deserts are being created and increasingly those denied Justice will beat a path to MP’s surgeries in desperation. We call upon the Government to reverse the cuts and engage in discussions for meaningful reform of the criminal Justice system and its funding.

The Boundary Commission published terrible proposals that would change the parliamentary boundaries in Dudley and chop our town in half! The proposals put St Thomas's ward - which includes part of Dudley town centre and areas like Kate's Hill, Buffery Park, Oakham, Sledmere and Blowers Green - into a new Sandwell constituency stretching almost ten miles to Edgbaston in Birmingham - Imagine that! I think these plans would rip the heart out of Dudley. They would: - Split Dudley's historic town centre in half - Put just one Dudley ward in with SEVEN Sandwell wards - Force local people to travel across Sandwell to meet their MP - Put the town centre church of St Thomas's in a different constituency from the ward that carries its name! I'm working with the ward Councillors to fight this plan and we're encouraging residents, businesses, charities and community groups to write to the Boundary Commission and urge them to think again.

Many people in the Old Trafford area rely on the Aldi store for their weekly groceries. The relocation has left local people, including those with mobility issues, facing a long walk to the new store. Pedestrian access is only available into White City via the Chester Road side, making this even worse. In addition, there are no bus services available from the main part of the Clifford or Longford wards to Chester Road. As any local person will tell you, the roads around this area are already heavily congested - even worse when Manchester United are playing at home, or there is a cricket match/concert at Old Trafford cricket ground, and we are concerned that without the proper public transport and pedestrian links, this will only be exacerbated. We call on Trafford Council to look at the public transport links and pedestrian access to this site. This relocation will have significant effects on the quality of life of Old Trafford residents, and we would like to see Trafford Council address this.

The Bank of England's policy making committees make decisions which have a huge impact on everyone in Britain, yet their members come from a narrow range of backgrounds. Over the last decade, the Bank’s policies have disproportionately benefited the wealthiest in society, while doing very little for the rest of us. [1] Unless its most powerful committees are representative of society as a whole, they won’t fully understand how every community is affected by their decisions. 75% of those on the Monetary Policy Committee, which is in charge of setting interest rates and policy such as quantitative easing, were working in the City or for large companies before taking up their post. There are no members with recent experience working on behalf of the interests of the rest of society, such as in trade unions or civil society organisations. And out of the 23 members on the Bank’s most important committees, only two are female, and BAME communities are underrepresented. Appointments to the Bank’s most senior positions are made by the Chancellor. We support Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Nicky Morgan MP's recent call for Philip Hammond to seek out and appoint a more diverse range of candidates. ----- [1] Researchers at civil society organisations like Positive Money have shown that quantitative easing and low interest rates - the Bank of England’s main policy responses to the crash - have benefited the richest households by almost 200 times as much as the poorest. See our website for more details.

In a shocking 290m privatisation deal, Serco and G4S – the same two companies who were stripped of contracts for tagging prisoners because a Serious Fraud Office investigation revealed they were charging for tagging people who didn’t exist – are going to be trusted with the handcuffs by the government. Essentially, the proposals would see G4S staff given the powers of Civilian Enforcement Officers. That is, authorised officers/employees of Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service becoming vested with the power to seize and sell goods to recover money owed under fines and community penalty notices, and to execute warrants of arrest, committal, detention and distraint. The sticking point here is that although much of the recovery and enforcement arms of the Court service has long been outsourced to ‘Authorised’ Enforcement Officers (employees of various other private companies), the line has until now been drawn at outsourcing the power of arrest. No more.

Planned changes will leave Gainsborough ambulance station with only one ambulance. East midlands ambulance service wants to move Gainsborough's ambulances to bigger towns like Lincoln and Newmark. A town of 20,000 people can’t have just one ambulance. Waiting times for ambulances are already high and there have been numerous stories about accidents and problems arising from the shortage of ambulances. We believe this will leave the residents of Gainsborough and West Lindsey with an inadequate service that will put lives at risk.

There are currently 7 primary schools Under the NYCC care in danger of closing. We have already lost 3. In an ideal world Ings would remain open, and the heart of the community however as this now seems futile I feel that there needs to be a full investigation into why we have got into this situation, and how we are going to prevent it happening again. I would also like it to be investigated why we are closing these schools yet allowing private developers to put in planning for two new schools in the area- both of which will be owned by an academy or free school, meaning they will no longer be under any of NYCC remit- a massive safeguarding issue

It is wrong for a political party to question the decisions of licensing officers. This is akin to rejection of the law to suit political ends rather than protection of the public or workers. This is important also because it shows an unashamed attempt to garner support from a voting section of the public. Moreover it does not represent the Local authorities inhabitants alone and cannot be proven. A political party should not be lobbying to obfuscate the work of those carrying out licensing.