Over the year 2016-2017 nearly 174,000 allegations were closed and 149,450 (86%) of tip offs were incorrect allegations. Over the financial years 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 332,850 cases were closed following reports by members of the public (of benefit fraud). Of these 287,950 were found to have no or little evidence to substantiate the claim (87%) We need to stop the culture of hunting out benefit fraud, as most of the time the allegations are incorrect. Going through this process has a detrimental effect on disabled and chronically ill people’s mental and physical health. We believe that if the public are to remain involved in reporting on alleged benefit fraud then they should not be allowed to do this anonymously and should have to give at least their name and national insurance number. This will help to make people think about their actions before picking up the phone, will help to reduce bogus allegations, and will make improvements to this culture of thinking people on benefits are scrounges and that disabled/chronically ill people are faking (when in fact they are probably faking being well most of the time). If someone is found to be a serial malicious reporter then they should be fined and banned from giving tip offs again. The general public have a slim view and understanding of what disability/chronic illness ‘looks like’ resulting in more reports of benefit fraud and disabled/chronically ill people being scared to leave the house for fear they’ll be reported increasing isolation in communities and fears that your neighbour is spying on your every move. Let’s stop feeding this narrative. Please help us make some positive changes to the benefits system. Together we rise! Faye Dempsey, Ellie Hicks, Alison Morton Articles of interest: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/01/spy-on-your-neighbour-britain-demonisation-benefit-claimants-disabled-people www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/benefit-fraud-public-tip-offs-legal-action-police-no-evidence-dwp-work-pensions-department-a8144096.html

We were all disgusted when Gloucester City Council put up these posters in Gloucester suggesting people should not give to those sleeping rough on the streets and suggesting they have accommodation. The posters were clearly a 'prelude' to the introduction of Public Space Protection Orders in Gloucester (PSPO's). In other parts of the country, these are being used to 'socially cleanse' cities and towns of rough sleepers so that they are essentially 'banned' from certain areas. Rough sleepers can also face fines if found in these areas. PSPO's give councils the power to remove people for non criminal behavior and the latest Home office advice (December 2017) states that PSPO's should not be used to target rough sleepers. This is a cruel and ill thought out approach to solving homelessness in Gloucester . In Gloucester many vulnerable people have no accommodation and due to 'ideological' cuts to funding, they have little, if any support when they're on the streets. By introducing PSPO's, the council will only move the problem, but not solve it. What's more, the most obvious solution would be for Gloucester City Council to open more shelters and open buildings that they already own for the homeless as there is nowhere near enough accommodation available in Gloucester.

Road access and road travel is important - spend some money on positive maintenance of the road surfaces to make leisure and business travel a safer, cheaper and more enjoyable experience. Claims against Lancashire County Council and Rossendale Borough Council due to damage to vehicles because of poorly maintained road surfaces will only increase financial pressures on councils.

Lickey Hills was gifted to the people of Birmingham by the Cadbury family so workers could enjoy free access to open spaces. The government want to encourage people to exercise more a d Lickey Hills is a great place to go for walks and family outings. Imposing car park charges will discourage locals and visitors, with a negative impact on the health of the local community and minimal financial gain for the council. This policy is flawed and short sighted

Bristol Airport has a new planning application for a 50% expansion and a 59% increase* in their climate-changing carbon emissions. This would mean big impacts locally in Chew Valley, North Somerset and South Bristol. But there's still time to stop it: we have time to object to the planning application. The scale of their expansion proposal is alarming. It would mean 97,000 flights per year - one every three minutes. This includes 4000 night flights, leading to incessant noise and disruption of sleep. As well as more congestion, pollution and parking spaces approved on green belt land. Our planet needs protecting against the dangerous effects of climate change, but Bristol Airport’s plans fly in the face of this. The expansion would be irresponsible as it would put both our climate and local community at risk. * Based on 2017 data. (link will be added soon)

Following the theft of Ivy, the five other cockers from the same area on the same night, the four stolen from a house in Weymouth, six dogs stolen in Harvington (2 yellow labs, a Patterdale, Jack Russell, a cocker spaniel and a collie), six cocker spaniels in New Mill Yorkshire and six cocker spaniels from Lepton, the more recent theft of Olive, who has fortunately been reunited with her family( video of their reunion can be seen by clicking in this link https://www.facebook.com/natalie.king.14224/videos/952727631559981/ and the many many other incidents of stolen dogs reported on a daily basis up and down the country, we are raising a petition to be presented to the UK Government, for the attention of Michael Gove MP. The link below was an article about Dog Theft Statistics, published in June 2017, highlighting the statistics for 2014/16 https://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/816125/Dog- theft-UK-stolen-statistics-Britain-police-figures Justice for Ivy UK (Facebook Group) was born after the cruel and heartbreaking abduction, and subsequent abhorrent death, of beautiful Ivy, cocker spaniel, taken from her home in Devon in December 2017. Incidents of all animal theft have increased at an alarming rate over the past few years, and we feel it is time that both the government and the police authorities take these incidents seriously, and treat our beloved pets as members of our families, and deal with them accordingly. All animals deserve a safe and happy life. Justice for Ivy UK

In King's Lynn, one of only two local residential respite units which supports many children with disabilities and Complex Needs has been earmarked for other usage. The remaining unit has only four beds and cannot accommodate all the children affected by this decision. Although Norfolk have a legal obligation to provide short breaks for disabled children, the council has still decided to shut it down. Residential Respite such as Morley House is essential to the well-being of these disabled children (who have already been assessed as needing the highest level of support) and their families who depend on the time to give other siblings or family members support, and access parts of everyday life (such as shopping, medical appointments and household maintenance it is difficult or impossible to do safely while caring for their disabled child). They allow children to make friends and try activities and days out which other children take for granted. Without access to Morley House, many of these children will be denied what every child should have, a life with friends where they can enjoy experiences in a safe environment with people who can understand and support them. In addition to the use as a residential respite unit, Morley House is also used to house educational boarders from the local Complex Needs School. This provision is part of their education. For my family and many others Morley House is a lifeline, the only place we know our child is safe and well looked after which enables us to relax and meet the needs of our younger child and give her the everyday experiences we cannot safely provide while caring for our older daughter, daytrips to the beach or even visits to the homes of family and friends are impossible apart from the times our older daughter is in respite. We need your support to reverse this decision and ensure our children and the many children who will come after ours still have access to this essential service.

This film is highly important on so many social levels. - First ever (Big Budget) Black Superhero Film in history - Will show off true African culture in a positive light - A chance for the British public to see Africa in a positive light (Fictional or not) - The film being reported as "The most highly anticipated superhero movie of ALL TIME" but is not being treated as such by Odeon and or Disney/Marvel - I feel the film is discriminated against as a cinema viewing at that hour (13/02/2018 - 00:05) would be filled with young black male & females between the ages of 18-25 pushing up to around the age of 32 and this is of course discrimination at its finest This film has garnered a huge level of anticipation in the US & overseas, "Black Panther' Sets New Early Sales Record, Eyeing Possible $150 Million Opening Weekend" - Forbes "The movie-ticket site Fandango has announced that the latest Disney/Marvel superhero film is outpacing all previous movies released in the first quarter in terms of advance sales. It's beating out such hits as "The Hunger Games" (2012) and "Beauty and the Beast" (2017), says The Hollywood Reporter." - Fandango

The Community has over the past five years got young people, boys and girls, involved in playing football in the area but these kids are being forced to go weeks without any training due to not having a all weather surface which has floodlights, they also have to postpone their 7 aside fixtures due to cold and wet conditions as there are so many teams using the same area the grass turns to mud very quickly.

The pension changes threaten young lecturers who are the future of higher education in the UK. Although we are aware that this strike is across the UK, this petition is to show that students at the University of Reading support and sympathise with their lecturers despite the disruption to their education. This petition is also vital because we deserve to know how the strikes will effect our grades and ultimately if there will be any reimbursement for the significant amount of education time missed, considering UK students are paying up to £9,250 a year for our education. This petition shows that students support their lecturers’ moral right to stand up for their pensions.

This junction is notoriously dangerous, and is the natural exit/entrance point both from the Church Fields development and also from the three schools on Westwood Way. Many residents have experienced "near misses" and a child from West Oaks school was struck by a moving vehicle. A zebra crossing needs to be put in place to provide a safer place for pedestrians to cross; it will also serve to punctuate the flow of traffic into the High Street and help to slow down vehicles. Please provide this crossing before there is a really terrible incident.

Personally, I often forget to donate to food banks until I see the crate at the exit of the supermarket, and by then I'm all packed up and ready to go home. Of course, I could be more aware, and work on making it become a habit, but at the moment, I'm not very tuned in, although I'd love to be! Anyway, when I do my online grocery shop, which I am now trying to do on a more regular basis, I thought there was a significant change that could be made which would allow me to donate to food banks whilst doing the shop. For example, when I get my two tins of tuna for a discounted price, I could add one of those tins of tuna into a separate 'food bank' list. Rather than delivering these items to me, they could go straight into a food bank deposit system. Obviously it would need to be a simple user interface that doesn't get mixed up and confuse people and suddenly you receive the items you were trying to donate and the food bank receives the full order... So it could be quite difficult to do (I've got no idea, I don't work in systems!). Anyway, this is just an idea that I believe could work really well and could result in some valuable relationships between supermarkets and those in need.