A new strain of COVID-19 has resulted in a surge of cases and the R level increasing at an alarming rate. Hospitals across Kent, London and Essex have declared major incidencies, as they are unable to cope with the current level of demand. The new strain appears to be spread more easily by children than previous strains. This has resulted in the government taking the decision to stagger the return of secondary schools and keep many primary schools in Tier 4 areas closed & they will not re-open after the Christmas holidays. This will be reviewed on January 18th. However, legislation for SEND (Special educational needs and disabilities) settings has been ambiguous throughout this crisis, and the majority of SEND schools will be reopening their doors to pupils from Monday, where all staff (aside from the CEV in the highest tier areas) will be expected to return. The current guidance from the Department of Health and Social care advises priority vaccinations to be given to "frontline health and social care workers at high risk of acquiring infection, at high risk of developing serious disease, or at high risk of transmitting infection to multiple vulnerable persons or other staff". Staff working with pupils in special needs schools also meet the above criteria. They work in environments where it is impossible to maintain social distancing, the use of masks may be very difficult and they are expected to carry out personal care. It will also be very difficult to carry out the mass testing of pupils in these settings, which the government have said is vital as a long term aim to stop the spread of this awful disease. Tragically a recent report from Public Health England, found that people with learning disabilities were 6 times more likely to die from COVID-19, during the first wave of the pandemic. If staff working in these settings were to be vaccinated as a priority, it would mean that not only were they protected, but it would also protect the vulnerable children in their care.

Traders at Piccadilly Market were given a letter from Revd Lucy Winkett on 17th December 2020 advising them they can no longer trade after 23rd December 2020 - just one weeks notice!!! This was a bombshell for all the people whose livelihoods depend on trading in this market These people are fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts etc who have been employed there for many, many years. There was no consultation, no communication and it is grossly unfair and immoral of the Church to do this - it could have closed for a short period until things picked up and included the views of the traders in the process, respecting their position. This market is well known and well established for decades. Peoples lives have been shattered. I myself worked in this Market for 26 years and I am devastated at this closure. My wife was made redundant in July 2020 as the organisation she had worked for was put into liquidation at very short notice too after 28 years working there We could never have imagined we would both be out of long term jobs within 6 months of each other and in such a way. The other traders are understandably extremely upset and angry at what has happened and the huge impact this has on them and their families. No one should be treated in this way by anyone, least of all by the Church!

The Brent is highly built up - with residential housing, shops and 2 bus stops along this one small stretch of road. Earlier this month a woman was knocked down by a car and badly injured whilst walking across the zebra crossing, which simply isn't fit for purpose! This is not a one off incident, and since then many have shared their own experiences of near misses. We the undersigned ask Kent County Council for the zebra crossing lights to be installed, replaced and properly maintained & for railings to be installed along the ends of the crossing, to stop people parking alongside and obscuring pedestrians. We also ask Dartford Borough Council for increased parking enforcement along here, to deter people from parking dangerously and stop reckless behaviour. We have formed The Newtown Road Safety Group, in order to make our ward a safer place to live, and ask that both the local authority and Kent council start working together, before we see yet more injury and tragedies on our roads.

The speed limit along Mowbray Road between North Bretton and Marholm Village is 60 mph. Therefore cars travelling towards Marholm Village from the North Bretton roundabout, and visa versa, can legally travel at 60 mph and most of them seem to do so. This makes it quite difficult sometimes to drive out of Dunsberry onto Mowbray Road. Furthermore, it can be quite hazardous to walk along the footpath to and from Marholm Village as cars travelling at the legal 60mph negotiate the bends towards the Peterborough Crematorium. It seems ridiculous that there is a speed limit of 60mph at the entrance and exit to the Peterborough Crematorium. In recent years there have been several minor accidents on this stretch of road. It would be common sense to reduce the limit to at least 40 mph before a serious accident occurs.

Teachers and support staff in schools are vital to the continued education of our children but they are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 because they have to work face to face with students. Vaccination will not only help protect teachers from the virus, it will allow them to teach in person, and ultimately keep schools open to the benefit of the children, their parents and wider society. Unlike for other professions, including GPs, careworkers, hairdressers and shop workers who are required to wear masks or be behind protective screens, the government is not recommending face coverings are necessary in education settings (except in corridors and communal areas) Many colleagues have already been infected with the virus affecting their health AND leaving already overstretched staff to cover whole classes or send classes home. Safeguarding the future of the next generation should start with those who are delivering their education. Please don't scapegoat teachers any more than has already happened and consider vaccinating teachers and other education and childcare workers who have been on the frontline of COVID from the very start.

We are requesting a 30% reduction on our annual rent in all halls at the University of Reading, commencing in January. Living in halls facilitates access to the university resources & associated activities, however, unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic almost all aspects of university life have been curtailed to some extent. Despite the reduction in services, access to resources and other activities students are still paying fully for relocation and the cost of halls. The university told students that they would receive 'blended learning' whereby the teaching and content are accessible both online and in person. Many students feel that this 'blended learning' is not truly 'blended' as the majority of many courses remain exclusively online. As most of the teaching is online, it seems pointless to have moved to the university when we could have stayed home and received the same remote teaching as we do whilst unnecessarily living in halls. This is not the university's fault, we are in the midst of an unpredictable global pandemic, however it is the university's responsibility to listen and respond to their students' grievances. A reduction on rent means that the university recognises that living in halls in not benefiting our studies, in the same way we would under normal circumstances. We would like for all students participating in this rent strike to be free from disciplinary action, on the grounds that this strike is peaceful, we simply want to see change and want to work alongside the university to make this possible. Allyship is key, so we are not fighting the university, we are asking to discuss rent and make changes where necessary. Additionally, we would like to discuss changes in regard to the terms of the tenancy agreements. Students studying remotely, away from university, should not have to pay rent for a place they are not living in. Many students returned home for the second lockdown and practiced online learning, yet they were required to pay rent for a place they are not currently living in. Please sign this petition if you plan on striking in January, it is important that as many students as possible sign this because the more students involved, the more likely the university is to negotiate changes with us. Thank you all and let us make change happen together!!

Mental health services are already hard to access and during the pandemic this has only become worse. We need to protect the mental health of new parents both for the welfare of parents and their babies. Parental leave can be very lonely if isolated and with tier 4 restrictions coming in across the country there are fewer and fewer places available to have any contact with other adults. This is so vital in preventing postpartum anxiety and depression. Having the opportunity to form a support bubble would provide a lifeline to some new parents.

Bridgwater Docks is a unique environment and the boating community brings life and purpose to the docks which is hugely valued by everyone within the town. If this listed site is abandoned and left to decay will eventually become unsafe and an eyesore in the area and for the community. We, the undersigned, therefore feel strongly that the boats must remain in Bridgwater Docks and ask that Somerset County Council instruct Canal and Rivers Trust to rescind their notice to boat owners to move their boats by 31st January 2021. Until all other avenues have been exhausted.

The Eat For Free scheme provides a free hot meal during school term time. It brings both educational and health benefits and this has been validated by a study from the University of Essex. A family with two children save around £700 per year using the scheme. Newham has high rates of poverty and deprivation. We have suffered disproportionately during Covid and many of our families have lost their jobs. How can a Labour Council take food from the mouths of its children?

Kingspan, an Irish company based in Cavan, manufactured Grenfell Tower’s combustible insulation. During the Grenfell Inquiry into the tower block fire which killed 72 people in 2017, a former executive said that the firm was involved in a “deliberate and calculated deceit”, which involved the product, which failed several full-scale fire tests, but was being sold on the basis of earlier tests of a different, less combustible version of the product. The inquiry has also heard that Kingspan rigged tests and hired lobbyists after the disaster to try to persuade MPs that rival non-combustible products might be no less dangerous. Ulster Rugby should play no part in whitewashing Kingspan's image and must terminate it's sponsorship relationship and rename the stadium.

On 9th December 2020 The Sun newspaper published a Comment piece by Rod Liddle entitled "Covid has made heroes of many of our frontline workers… but not teachers". We, the undersigned, petition The Sun to remove this inflammatory "article" which neither accurately describes how teachers have behaved during the Global Pandemic, nor reflect how parents feel about the education their children have received since March 2020. We also call on The Sun to allow for an opposing Comment piece to be written giving all the grateful parents a chance to show the readership how educating their children in 2020 would not have happened without the support of hard working teachers. 2020 was not an ideal year for anyone - berating an entire profession for doing their best is unacceptable. Teachers are real heroes, and they don't get to hear it enough.

Bus travel in Winchester has a bad image. There are several reasons for this but a key one has always been the lack of a decent bus station. Getting rid of the bus station altogether and forcing users to wait at cold, unsafe spread out bus stops will only worsen the situation. Also, for many less mobile users, the walk between stops would be hard work. We need to be far less dependent on our cars given we're in a climate crisis, a new bus station would be a good way of improving the poor image of bus travel and encouraging a shift to buses. To make an even bigger impact respond to the consultation and tell WCC we wand a modern bus station: https://winchester.citizenspace.com/national-management-trainee/cwr-development-proposals/consultation/subpage.2020-11-06.7777517352/ ========================================================= More detail: Winchester City Council have completely dismissed the fact that the lack of a bus station was one of the key reasons the public objected to the 2009 scheme and the reason why it formed a central part of the 2018 Supplementary Planning Document. On-street bus stop provision rather than a bus station is a complete cop-out. It means: -Long and potentially confusing walks of up to a quarter of a mile between stops when interchanging, particularly affecting the elderly and those with mobility issues. -Some bus users would need to walk a quarter of a mile to get to the high street, double the distance from a new bus station on Middlebrook Street, particularly affecting the elderly and those with mobility issues. There will be no safe, weather-proof environment to wait for buses as can be found in many modern bus stations. - Streets such as Middlebrook and Silverhill will still not be traffic-free so air quality and safety will be compromised significantly. When Lower High St was a shared space for pedestrians and buses it was wholly unpleasant and dangerous. - The ability to transition to electric buses is likely to be far more costly and complex as charging infrastructure would have to be built into the street itself. The 2017 Winchester Transport survey produced by Atkins showed that shelter and safety were ranked 3rd and 4th in terms of importance and along with requests for a new bus station these things were mentioned more than anything else in the questionnaires. The nature of on-street bus provision means that it simply cannot provide improved levels of comfort for bus users and neither can it provide sufficient safety. Given that there is no advantage to on-street bus provision we can only conclude that this decision has been made purely to maximise profit from the development and certainly not in the best interests of bus users. Transport is the largest contributor to the district's carbon footprint. We consider a modal shift to active travel and public transport as a key means of reducing this. Alongside cost and reliability, we consider the image of bus travel to be a key barrier to increased ridership in Winchester. This can only be changed by investing in a modern, efficient bus network with a safe, integrated terminus. This opportunity must not be lost.