Currently if you are a university student and living in rented accommodation you can receive a maintenance loan. The councils in UK include this as an income when evaluating a housing benefit claim! I have also found out the even if you do not take out a maintenance loan the council includes it, so a student would have to take one out anyway. This is a loan to be paid back after graduation, not an income.

If Torbay council can get this through, then every council in the land will be punishing the disabled and poor families, for being poor. What is being proposed? They are proposing to make ten changes that are listed below to the current scheme from 1 April 2017: Reducing the maximum level of support to 55% of the council tax charge Restrict the maximum level of support to the equivalent of a band C property charge Savings limit of £3,000 Removal of the family premium Reducing backdating for new claims to one month Basing the reduction on a set minimum income for self-employed earners after one year’s self-employment Reducing the period a person can be absent from Great Britain and still receive a reduction to four weeks Removing the work related activity component for new ESA applicants Limiting the number of dependent children within the calculation to a maximum of two Removing entitlement to Severe Disability Premium where another person is paid Universal Credit (Carers Element) The last one is really poisonous, remove entitlement to Carers!!! Please spread this story, you never know when you may be struggling with sickness. Thank you for your time.

People changing from DLA to PIP are being robbed of their entitlement because they do not have a " cognitive impairment" or " physical" reason why they cannot understand what people say to them, or can't cook a meal , or can't walk 200 yards, or can't plan and execute a journey by themselves.

Over 300 people currently attend one of the day centres facing closure. Most of the users are frail and many suffer from dementia. Being able to meet up with friends means people are less isolated and are able to stay living in the community for much longer. If these services go people may not be able to live independently for a long as they would like to and may be forced into more costly residential care.

Keeping our society fair means that people need accurate information on which to make an informed decision about the issues they care about. In the recent referendum on the EU both Leave and Remain campaigns were supported by the press in spreading disingenuous information to suit an agenda. The news media spread misinformation and outright lies instead of reporting facts. Several retractions have since been made in tiny panels tucked away where they cannot be seen without a headline. To help the news media uphold the high editorial standards which they aim to meet I think it is important that there is a cost to them for lying to the public and that retractions, apologies and correction are clear and visible. The Editors' Code of Practice can be found here: https://www.ipso.co.uk/editors-code-of-practice/ It states that "A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and — where appropriate — an apology published. In cases involving IPSO, due prominence should be as required by the regulator." We believe that 'due prominence' should impact upon the publication to a degree that encourages due diligence. Please sign the petition if you agree.

The current 'austerity' policies are hurting only the poorest & most vulnerable people, whilst the wealthy have only gotten wealthier. This has led to the country being more divided than ever in recent years. The 'Brexit' vote is a prime example of this; where the disenfranchised voiced their feelings & now we need our Government to heal these wounds & bring us together, rather than promote further division. Disabled people are suffering particularly as a result of the cut-backs in public spending & we feel victimised. We have a right to try to lead as normal a life as possible & cutting benefits in what is one of the wealthiest nations on Earth is both unjustified & shameful. Many disabled people are genuinely frightened of where these policies might lead & what our future lives may be like. We've seen other people who claim benefits being used as a scapegoat in the media & we worry, 'are we next?'. We want assurances that this will not happen & that we will remain both valid & valued citizens. We hope & pray that these promises to halt these divisive & harmful policies are kept & that our worries are alleviated.

This needs to be done, would be simple to implement and would have many positive advantages over our current system of grudgingly given welfare benefits many of which are not claimed due to stigmatisation issues and lack of awareness. The advantages include: A basic citizen's income would be a hand up, a platform to launch your career from , to potentially do well and contribute to improving the quality of society through income tax. There may well be a backlash one day as the gap between rich and poor continues to increase, this idea would avoid social unrest, possible revolution and bloodshed. Vast swathes of DWP expense could be abolished except for special circumstances where people because of disability need a small citizen's income supplement to support their extra basic living costs. The economy would be stimulated by the extra demand and productivity created by the poorest in society having slightly more money to spend and invest in small enterprises. The 'feel good factor' would be promoted by a basic income as a right for all. People would have financial stability and be able to plan and make effective decisions for their futures, unclouded by fear and worry. Reduced/abolished poverty through a basic income would lead to reduction in homelessness, begging and crime and its related costs to the police and justice system. The dignity of every citizen would be be restored, the motive for petty crime removed. Greatly reduced levels of clinical depression, alcoholism and stress related health issues with a commensurate saving to our NHS. The onus would no longer be on the poor to prove they are not benefits cheats but the focus will be moved to the rich to prove they are not avoiding taxation and cheating their fellow citizens. The era of stigmatisation of the poor and turning a blind eye to the far bigger crimes of the rich will come to an end. The need for charities where those at top of an organisation make an excellent living off the back of volunteers would also greatly be reduced. People generally don't want to receive charity and feel patronised by and obligated to some individual or organisation. A basic income as a citizen's right would help to negate the reason for charity organisations in all but the most extreme cases and causes. The current system of working tax credits and universal credit is a system that subsidises the meanest paying employers not the poverty struck employees. A basic income would force employers to pay fairer wages for unattractive and unpleasant jobs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zNEG5FXv8I

The safety of our children

Although not part of the official campaign, Nigel Farage and UKIP did nothing to dispel the claim that we could give £350 million a week to our NHS. Already however, it has come to light that this is unrealistic, which has led many voters to feel they were misled by those who promoted Leave. Although it is not much, it is better than nothing. MEP's earn around €96,000 per year. Although the UK has voted to leave the European Union, until Article 50 is triggered (which as it looks now, could take some time), the UK will still send MEP's to European Parliament. Having campaigned as they have for the UK to leave, and against the European Union, it no longer seems fair they still take their approximate €96,000 yearly salary, plus expenses. Either they should stop claiming EU money, or it should be put to better use. We are asking them to give it to the NHS as a gesture of how committed they are to improving the service.

As British and most of all being human, we have no room in our society for racism, it is a backward policy. We have hope that entry of a racist party into Downing Street is not possible, as the electorate is now becoming more cautious. However the result of the 23rd gives us cause to act. We need to protect this country for the greater good.

My name is Jenn Layton. I had an autistic meltdown on the 11th June and ended up in A&E twice in 24 hours with overdoses. I had been referred to the Home Treatment and Crisis Team the day before. When I called them before I took my first overdose to tell them I was on my own and felt risky I was told to go for a walk. I assaulted a member of the hospital staff trying to help on my first admission because I could not cope with the sensory input and left the house in handcuffs when I refused to cooperate with paramedics. I self discharged and went home and overdosed again on alcohol and drugs because I was in a state of physiological shock and unable to behave rationally. I really wanted to die and stop feeling the pain I was in. I am feeling better now but am terrified if this happens again at a weekend and I am still not understood the same thing will happen again, or worse. NHS Derby City and Derbyshire estimate there are approximately 11,000 people in the County somewhere on the Autistic Spectrum. Lack of provision mean we are often unable to achieve anywhere near or full potential. We are stuck between NHS teams, with no dedicated pathway, and often encounter poorly prepared and dangerous situations that can worsen already difficult circumstances. Mental health staff, hospital staff, police and social care are working with no dedicated training or joining up of services. Families, parents and partners are being left alone to pick up the pieces because of the lack of provision, making life miserable and harder for everyone. The number of people on the spectrum is increasing all the time as diagnosis improves. Please add your name and story and make life easier for everyone, Aspies, Autists, their families and the services and save some money for the county in the long term by avoiding countless crisis situations that are occurring every day, in homes and public places in Derbyshire.

It is important because many millions of claimants are being unfairly penalised by the government when they claim jobseekers allowance whilst they are actively seeking employment. If you begin a new job then you are paid from the first day of your employment. Why shouldn't it be the same for claimants of jobseekers allowance?