In November 2018 local people entered an old GP surgery owned by the NHS and left empty for 9 years to provide life- saving shelter for homeless people at risk of dying on the street. The Shelter provides a bed, warmth and food for up to 15 residents. Since opening it has supported residents to access health care, mental health services, help for drug and alcohol, benefits, training and employment. It has successfully found move on accommodation for many and NOT ONE of its residents has left to the street. In December 2018, the NHS issued court proceedings to evict the shelter and its residents, claiming they want to sell the building on the open market and that the Council and GMCA have told them that they will not support the Shelter staying open, as they already have enough accommodation for all. On 31st January 2019 an outright possession order was made and the NHS planned to evict the residents with High Court bailiffs on 4th February 2019. The Judge refused to allow residents to be named in the proceedings – they therefore remain “Persons Unknown”. However, on 1st February, a Judge granted a stay of execution pending the Shelter’s appeal. This is only a temporary reprieve and the threat of eviction is still very real. Most of the residents fear that even if offered temporary accommodation in a church hall, night shelter or far away Bed and Breakfast, they will end up back on the streets, because the accommodation is not suitable for their needs. The eviction and the closure of the Shelter can be avoided if the NHS, the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, Salford City Council, Andy Burnham and GMCA have the will to save it. We all know there isn’t accommodation for every homeless person that needs it and that the accommodation that is in place doesn’t meet every homeless person’s needs. This successful Shelter has been set up by local and homeless people working together finding a way to save lives and end homelessness. It is grass roots, community led, and has homeless people at its heart. Please show your support by signing our petition.

University Students are finding themselves in relative poverty and facing evictions as a result of Universal Credit and Housing Benefit assessing Student Loans as income. University students accrue debts for student loans in order to pay for course tuition fees and maintenance costs. Interest rates, on a sliding scale from 3.1% on a sliding scale up to 6.1% are charged from the day students receive the first loan instalment, although this amount is set by the Government and revised annually. However, this alone is a Human Rights Violation. The United Nations committee that oversees the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) has stated: "Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education". Despite this, students are realising the importance of a Higher Education for themselves and their children, to enable a better standard of living away from the reliance on minimum wage jobs, (often zero hour contracts)which is likely to result in reliance of welfare "top-ups". Yet they are being sanctioned from Universal Credit because of their eligibility of the student loan this results in a loss of housing benefits. We are now seeing students, many of which are parents of young children, living in poverty with a reliance on foodbanks, facing eviction and suffering mental health issues. Besides the ICESCR, the UK Human Rights Act 1998 gives effect to European Convention rights. One of those provides that: "No person shall be denied the right to education." European case law suggests that states are under an obligation to afford an effective right of access to institutions of higher education that exist. Yet we are hearing repeatedly that university students are being advised by governmental departments to give up their studies in order to claim full benefits! We, therefore, are asking you if you are insistent on expecting students to pay their own fees and maintenance with a repayable loan, then view it as a loan when assessing them!

This is important because hearing impaired children deserve this. If children learn this it will give them the necessary life skills. Children will also learn how to communicate with children, who have disabilities.

We teach our children, both at home and at school, to act against things which are wrong and damaging. SATs are wrong and damaging. Our children are More Than A Score. Previous campaigns have resulted in the Government announcing that from 2020, children entering school will not complete Yr 2 SATs. We think it is time for Yr6 SATs to go as well! To download letters to send to North Tyneside Education Authority, your local MP and to your child's head, click below. There is also a letter to school governors to show support for your school and explaining why you need them to support this campaign. PLEASE DO SEND LETTERS! We need as many as possible to go! Remember you do NOT have to be a parent to have concerns - teachers/grandparents/concerned citizens - adapt and send letters too! https://letthekidsbekids.wordpress.com/year-6-sats/ We are aware of the constantly growing discussion surrounding the many issues linked to SATs: • Mental health – of both students and staff due to unnecessary pressure. • A restricted curriculum which limits learning and wider knowledge and understanding, focussing disproportionately on Maths and English. • Outdoor break time and some practical lessons become lost due to extra English and Maths preparation. • Most secondary schools re-test in Yr7 due to the inaccurate and over-inflated nature of many KS2 results. • Secondary teachers tell us that many children now reach secondary school ill-equipped in terms of the necessary skills required. This is due to a lack of real embedded learning and age inappropriate subject content. • Secondary school student targets frequently are based upon KS2 SATs results and the expected progress made. They do not take into account the many other factors involved. All subject areas have targets based on results in English and Maths in Yr 6. This is ridiculous. • Schools’ Progress 8 targets are set based on frequently inflated SATs results due to cramming – as a result these targets are unrealistic and practically impossible to meet in many cases. • Ofsted, many teaching unions, heads, teachers and politicians have expressed deep concerns about the current system and have recommended a complete overhaul. This has been reinforced by Education Select Committees and numerous pieces of research and is reflected in the new proposed Ofsted framework. On the basis of the above, we ask: Are SATs the best thing for our children? Do SATs benefit our children in any way, or is this merely a data collection exercise on behalf of the government which can potentially damage our children's education in the future? If so, are we doing the right thing by making our children sit the SATs? We believe that SATs are NOT the best thing for our children OR the education system and feel strongly that we should be working together as parents and teachers ( from primary, middle and secondary schools) and with support from the local authority to forge an alternative. Particularly within our local authority, where middle schools are common, it seems a largely pointless exercise for students to be judged at the end of Yr6 when they still have two more years to complete in the same school; such a data target would not be beneficial to setting or provide any additional information to teachers who already know that child and their abilities well. It would benefit the child in no way. Our response to SATs is not in any way a reflection on our children’s schools, which we feel to be doing a fantastic job, and we fully support the headteachers and staff. This is a response to a broken and damaging system which we feel strongly is failing both the children and the staff who struggle within it. As a local authority, whose role it is to oversee and support our education system, we feel that you have an important part to play in recognising the inadequacies within the system and a responsibility to help address these whilst supporting the heads, teachers and children they affect. To fail to act against a broken system is to be complicit in the damage inflicted. SATs do NOT work and they need to GO. Please take action! Download letters now (below) to send to North Tyneside Education Authority and to your child's headteacher to share your concerns. Letters - https://letthekidsbekids.wordpress.com/year-6-sats/ For more info, please contact us at [email protected] https://letthekidsbekids.wordpress.com/year-6-sats/ https://www.morethanascore.org.uk/what-we-do/sats/ https://reclaimingschools.org/2018/03/18/protecting-children-from-primary-school-tests/?fbclid=IwAR07H8OuCMiIoh8Hxua-mH8Tt03AOj43jXQ-yUm-TK9-otGTduLy2Bw4Sas

It is grossly unfair of Bangor University to attack the pensions of their lowest paid staff, particularly as their scheme - BUPAS - is running at a surplus. University support staff are the lowest paid in their sector. They provide services such as cleaning, security, maintenance and catering - low paid work which is vital for the smooth running of Bangor University. Their academic colleagues took action to protect their pensions - and successfully fought off the attacks. All Bangor University staff deserve a fair pension which gives them dignity in retirement, not pension poverty.

'Stay & Play' is a free service open to all families and children local to Franciscan Children's Centre. It provides the opportunity for children to access indoor and outdoor space where they can engage in child lead play and develop, learn, play, sing, enjoy messy play and integrate into their community. It also provides a support network for parents where their children can play with their peers, meet other parents, talk to professionals and ask advice. Many parents feel isolated in London and 'Stay & Play' at Franciscan Children's Centre is a unique service which encourages families to come together, talk, ask questions in a relaxed, fun and non intrusive environment. I have accessed stay & play at Franciscan Road for both my children and watched them grow, learn and gain the confidence and independence to explore and understand their community. Many families who currently access this service do not have alternative options for their children to play locally. The parents who go to stay & play are from a diverse background and this is a non means tested service that allows children and families to play and have fun in a relaxing environment without feeling stigmatised. Many of the play groups within the area around Franciscan Road are already full and therefore difficult to access. There are a vast number of families in this area who need this service including single parents, parents with health problems, families who are struggling economically and cannot afford private play groups, families who have recently moved to the UK who do not speak English, parents who are seeking guidance and help in raising their children and parents simply seeking a fun and friendly environment for their children to play. The importance of this service cannot be underestimated, this kind of support is not available at other play groups or sing along sessions. By discontinuing stay & play at Franciscan Children's Centre, Wandsworth Council is withdrawing vital 'Early Years' support to huge number of parents and children who currently rely on this service. We urge the Council to continue providing stay and play as an integral part of the services at Franciscan Children's Centre.

When Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) - a private healthcare company making profits from the NHS - collapsed, staff were left without the wages they were owed. HES were the private company that made a fortune out of the NHS before collapsing in scandal over their failure to dispose of hazardous waste that is now piled high in warehouses across the UK. Now these failures are forcing former staff to foodbanks. The Scottish Government can end this by stepping in to make sure the staff get paid. Despite the company’s collapse, NHS boards have continued to pay HES Ltd despite wages being withheld from staff. Continuing to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to HES Ltd in December and January whilst workers were denied their wages makes a mockery of the NHS. We are only asking for what we are rightfully owed. We need the Cabinet Secretary to end this injustice.

Since the Federation of the two schools in 2015, Ilfracombe Infants has seen a steady decline in standards resulting in an Ofsted which has gone from Outstanding to requires improvement across every category. As an incredibly large Infants School with a wide diversity of pupils we have suffered from having to share a Headteacher with another school which is a 40 minute drive away. We also do not believe that the current management ethos matches the needs of our pupils and we would like to see a return to community based learning values which are nurturing, creative and fun.

Many dog owners are unable to let their dogs off lead, a good example is my Labrador who is not yet great at recall. An enclosed space would allow for more exercise without the worry of them running off, eating things they shouldn't, getting injured/lost, as well as not bothering other park users such as fishermen or people who may have dog phobias. We have some great open spaces in the local area but few that provide this. The picture above shows two possible sites, though only suggestions!

Merseyside Police have been ravaged by Government austerity. However, Newton-le-Willows deserves it’s fair share of the remaining resource. However, the Borough of St. Helens now has the fewest opening hours for enquiry desks across Merseyside. Southport Police Station: 93 hours Bootle Police Station: 84 hours a week. (Despite being so close to Liverpool City Centre) Sefton therefore has a total of 177 open hours. Bootle still has a magistrates court. Wallasey Police Station: 20 hours Birkenhead Police Station: 93 hours The Wirral total: 113 hours per week open. The Wirral still has a magistrates court. St Anne St: 93 hours Admiral Street: 84 hours Walton Lane: 84 hours Liverpool Total: 261 hours per week open. Liverpool still has a magistrates and crown court. Huyton Police Station: 93 hours Kirkby Police Station: 16 hours Speke Police Station: 16 hours Knowsley therefore has a total 125 hours a week in total. St Helens Police Station: 93 hours per week Newton-le-Willows Police Station: 7 hours per week Our borough therefore has 100 hours per week in total. Therefore, our borough has the fewest open hours out of all of Merseyside. We have 77 fewer open hours than Sefton. And 13 less than Knowsley, which has a smaller population than our borough over 3 Police Stations. St Helens North has been unfairly treated.

Chris Grayling isn’t fit to do his job, he has awarded a £14m contract to Seaborne Freight, a company with no ferries and no cash, without due diligence. He has overstepped the mark and stopped Thanet District Councils democratic budget setting meeting. He needs to go!

Sir Christopher Chope has repeatedly blocked legislation intended to protect the lives and rights of young women. Today, he killed legislation intended to protect young women at risk of female genital mutilation. He does not represent British society and should not be entitled to influence British politics.