There is woefully poor provision for childcare of under 2's in Walthamforest. Waiting lists are often 12 months or more. Woodside is a amazing nursery that gives families somewhere safe and happy to put their babies. It is an important resource that needs protecting for families now and in the future. There needs to be more support to enable mothers to return to work once their maternity leave finishes - this is when a child turns 1, not 2. Please sign this petition to protect an important resource in the community.

Many tourists are finding it a big turn away to have to go from one end of the beach to the other just to use the toilet, it's a long walk for young children and disabled people and is affecting businesses and tourism.

On 24th July 2016, Go North East will remove the 11 and 11a bus services. These buses provide vital links between villages in Western Gateshead with Newcastle City Centre, including Blackhall Mill, Chopwell, High Spen, Greenside, Crawcrook and Ryton. Without the 11 and 11a services, local people face severe difficulty when travelling around their local area. I commute from Ryton to the Scotswood Road area of Newcastle every weekday. With the removal of the 11 and 11a buses in July, there will be NO direct bus from Ryton and several surrounding villages to Newcastle City Centre. Go North East have proposed to replace the cancelled services with a new 10x route, which will serve local areas 'at peak times' only: as an example, the new 10x from Ryton to Newcastle is only running at the 'peak' time of 7.25am - 7.55am! Go North East evidently believe that offering a replacement bus service for only 30 minutes a day on week days is enough. This is incredibly unreasonable: customers have found that the early morning 11 and 11a services are currently so well-used that it is often impossible to find a seat on the bus! The reason that Go North East give for axing these essential services is that 'the number of people travelling on the service 11 as whole means its not viable to continue running it.' (sic) With the forthcoming proposal of more than 400 new homes in Ryton alone, Go North East should be investing in our local area, not removing vital services from long-suffering residents! Please sign this petition and encourage your friends and family do the same - hopefully, Go North East will realise how important these services are to our local communities and scrap plans to remove them.

Veterans’ welfare, armed forces pensions and the handling of casualty notifications are all at risk as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to privatise its shared services organisation – Defence Business Services (DBS). DBS employs over 2,200 people and is responsible for MoD armed forces and civilian pay, pensions and HR, delivering welfare to 900,000 veterans and their dependents, handling casualty notifications and administration 24 hours a day, UK wide security vetting and making payments to all defence suppliers. MoD’s track record with private companies in DBS generates some big concerns. In 2012, Serco and Accenture were brought in as management partners where they were paid for running the organisation but additionally received 40p for every pound saved via ‘efficiency gains’. This led to reckless cuts, asset stripping and manipulating of performance measures in a profit grabbing frenzy. In many areas of DBS, jobs were cut to generate a saving (and profit for Serco and Accenture) but were then reinstated at a later date. When the Serco-Accenture contract was brought to an end this year, it was hoped that common sense had prevailed. Yet now the MoD want to go one step further by fully privatising the running of DBS. The MoD argue that this will bring them savings but history tells another story. Instead, it will result in cuts to services, putting those who rely on DBS, like veterans, MoD staff and army personnel at risk. It could also open the door to offshoring of work and defence sensitive data as companies seek to maximise profits. The alarm bells don’t stop there. A recent National Audit Office report has revealed that privatisations of other shared services across Whitehall has failed to deliver value for money to taxpayers, with long delays and rising costs. DBS is one of the largest and most complex shared services organisations in Europe, carrying out sensitive and critical services to the MoD, its staff, the armed forces and veterans. The MoD should safeguard this by keeping DBS public.

Government plans to cap Local Housing Allowance (LHA) which would mean a cut in the housing benefit support for people living in specialist housing. This will affect thousands of the most vulnerable people in the country including older people, people living with a disability, those fleeing domestic violence, young adults leaving care, homeless people and young families. Some tenants will be forced to find £584 extra a month out of their own resources or face homelessness. The cap will decimate the support housing sector, making schemes that provide additional support to those who really need it simply unviable, with the expectation that public services such as the NHS will pick up the pieces. Inevitably rent arrears will accumulate and it is likely that supported housing schemes will be closed and the residents forced into being homeless. An example: I will soon be 81. I live in a 41 household sheltered housing scheme, one of seven located from Hull in the North East to Paignton in Devon, run by a small housing association based in London. I have been told that my housing association may have to close my sheltered scheme if it is not financially viable. That would mean forty-one homeless households, possibly 300 if the other schemes are also closed. The overall effect of the proposals will be dramatic with scores of homeless of all ages roaming the streets and countryside seeking shelter!

Barnet Council leased out the pavilion building in Cherry Tree Wood several years ago. Since then there has been very little progress on the renovation work undertaken by the leaseholder. Furthermore, the building was left in an extremely unsafe condition, with totally inadequate fencing around the site. It has become an urgent health and safety issue. In addition the dilapidated building has been attracting anti-social behaviour, followed by a serious crime in the wood in 2016. Previously the area was extremely safe. Cherry Tree Wood has a high number of visitors on a daily basis, (including use of the recreational facilities, school trips and school sports day events). Barnet Council urgently need to liaise with the leaseholder to make the site safe. It has totally changed the feel of the wood and the feel of surrounding area.

Westminster City Council has approved plans to demolish several key historic buildings in the Soho Conservation Area, and replace them with an oversized, bland and bulky office led development. SAVE is asking the Secretary of State and his planning minister to call the application in for a full public inquiry to ensure this important site and the wider character of Soho is not eroded. Soho is one of London’s most distinctive, historic areas – its diverse history and charm told through its buildings, streets and open spaces. The old Foyles building on Charing Cross Road is a landmark - strongly associated with all that makes Soho special, and is noted in the Conservation Area as a building of merit. The proposed development is nine storeys – much higher and bulkier than its neighbours - in marked contrast to the fine grain of the surrounding streets. Conservation Area status is meant to protect sites like this from insensitive development. SAVE is alarmed that Westminster has blithely approved the demolition of the Foyles building and adjacent ‘buildings of merit’ (their words). We consider the re-development will cause substantial harm to the character of the Conservation Area. SAVE is calling on the Secretary of State to call-in this application for a public inquiry, and to stop the plans as currently proposed. This is our opportunity to ensure the unique character of Soho is protected from harmful re-development.

Unsustainable fish farms located in or by the sea can wreak havoc on the environment, threatening the future of our fisheries. My initiative Ask the Q (www.asktheq.org) campaigns for greater transparency in supply chains and I believe it is highly misleading to label seafood 'responsible' when the Marine Conservation Society recommends eating this 3-rated seafood 'only occasionally' as it 'should probably not be considered entirely sustainable at this time'.

For too long priority signage has been ignored. Pregnant women are left to stand, disabled people are ignored, young children get squashed and the elderly shown little consideration. Priority seat users shouldn't have to ask. LET'S DO IT TOGETHER! #lookupgetup is aimed at making sure we all take social responsibility to ensure priority seats are available for those that need them. Together we're pledging not to fall asleep, continually look at something VERY important on our phones or bury our heads in a newspaper. Instead, if we're sat in a priority seat, we will look up regularly and offer up the seat as soon as we see someone who might need it more. If you're worried about embarrassing yourself, just don't sit there. WHAT ELSE? In exchange I will contact transport providers, starting with TFL, asking them to provide better signage and promote awareness. Let's try and crack this - we have no problem telling people to stand on the right of escalators, why should this be any different? SPREAD THE WORD! If you see or know of anyone who qualifies for a priority seat and has been ignored, please tell them about this campaign!

What parent wants their child to be taught by an unqualified teacher? What teacher wants to have a dodgy qualification? It is vitally important that teachers are properly qualified and accredited; the new White Paper "Educational Excellence Everywhere" proposes that Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) should be abolished and replaced with an unspecified qualification. This will mean that teachers up and down the country will not have the same, equivalent qualification or be properly qualified. Universities are acknowledged by a great deal of research as being the best arbiters of whether a teacher should receive QTS, making judgements on new teachers based on national standards. The abolishing of these national standards -- which is proposed in the White Paper -- will mean that children will receive a worse education because they won't be taught by properly qualified teachers.

It is important to families of disabled children, those of us with sensory or mobility needs. Those visiting a sick relation. For many having to use two buses is just too much. This will have a huge impact on the most vulnerable. Transport should serve the public not put profit first. Please sign and share.

After a few days of dragging the bike up and down 6 flights of stairs and struggling through the heavy fire doors young people begin to find cycling is not so much fun The tenants are not allowed to store anything on the landings Bikes / prams / buggies / mobility scooters are not stored. They are parked - ie they are in use and not stored anymore than cars are stored in the parking areas outside One elderly lady struggling with her walking was not allowed to park her mobility scooter inside The landings, unlike the flat hallways, are spacious with lots of nooks to park a bike or mobility scooter or pram without impeding traffic, despite what the housing officers say It is fairly certain that a bike pram or mobiility scooter is less of a fire hazard parked in a cement corridor than in a small hallway But why not build bike shelter for prams and bikes and scooters? This is Bike Week in Glasgow. Please ask GHA 08004797979 and / or the Wheatley Group who are "committed to a Greener Glasgow", how they are supporting Bike Week : Wheatley Group, Wheatley House, 25 Cochrane Street, G1 1HL or phone 0800470707 Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm.