Argyll and Bute council over the past few years have consistently acted against the wishes of the communities they were meant to serve. We now find that they have promoted Mr. Cleland Sneddon to the most senior council officer post of Chief Executive Mr. Sneddon in one of his first acts when arriving at Argyll and Bute Council was to try and close 26 rural schools which would have destroyed the fragile communities that they represented. Our elected officials supported him in his actions and it was only the concerted efforts of the communities concerned that stopped the process in its tracks, by showing just how wrong he and the council were in their calculation of the costs and effect of the closures. Mr. Sneddon chooses not to live within Argyll and Bute, but to commute from his home within the central belt. He has worked with the elected officials to oppose community projects such as Castle Toward, and as a result has assisted in the decline of the population of the region. This petition calls for Argyll and Bute council to reverse the decision to promote Mr. Sneddon to the position of Chief Executive. It also calls for the Scottish Government to intervene in the running of Argyll and Bute council. To examine the impact of the current management of the council on the population of the area, and to consider all options in improving the lot of the population of Argyll and Bute. We the undersigned have no confidence in Argyll and Bute Council having the skills and ability to manage the region, and call for government intervention and assistance in providing a council fit for purpose for its long suffering communities.

Argyll and Bute council over the past few years have consistently acted against the wishes of the communities they were meant to serve. We now find that they have promoted Mr. Cleland Sneddon to the most senior council officer post of Chief Executive Mr. Sneddon in one of his first acts when arriving at Argyll and Bute Council was to try and close 26 rural schools which would have destroyed the fragile communities that they represented. Our elected officials supported him in his actions and it was only the concerted efforts of the communities concerned that stopped the process in its tracks, by showing just how wrong he and the council were in their calculation of the costs and effect of the closures. Mr. Sneddon chooses not to live within Argyll and Bute, but to commute from his home within the central belt. He has worked with the elected officials to oppose community projects such as Castle Toward, and as a result has assisted in the decline of the population of the region. This petition calls for Argyll and Bute council to reverse the decision to promote Mr. Sneddon to the position of Chief Executive. It also calls for the Scottish Government to intervene in the running of Argyll and Bute council. To examine the impact of the current management of the council on the population of the area, and to consider all options in improving the lot of the population of Argyll and Bute. We the undersigned have no confidence in Argyll and Bute Council having the skills and ability to manage the region, and call for government intervention and assistance in providing a council fit for purpose for its long suffering communities.

We want URGENT ACTION before any more LIVES ARE LOST!

My friends and their daughter were unable to get home one Saturday evening, having to push their daughter in her wheelchair several miles, after having approached four dissabled carrying taxis in a row parked together in a taxi rank, all claiming their ramps for wheelchair access were not functional.

Helping preserve and conserve woodland and helping children learn the importance of trees. By introducing the one tree per child to Brighton and Hove hopefully more cities in the UK will follow meaning the more of the environment will be saved.

This is an idea that received unanimous support from the Dundee Fairness Commission. The Scottish Unemployed Workers' Network is calling for it to be translated into action. People unable to find work are increasingly being made to work for nothing on pain of losing their benefits and being left destitute. There have been various different work-for-your-benefits schemes - including Community Work Placements that mandate people to work unpaid for 30 hours a week for 6 months, a total of 782 hours, or more than 2 ½ times the maximum community service given as punishment for a crime. The DWP doesn’t actually use the term workfare, which comes from the United States where this approach was developed, but it is a convenient word to use to cover all the different schemes that both punish and exploit the unemployed. Very few of these schemes provide anything at all in the way of useful experience, and the people forced to do them are often treated like skivvies both in the work they are made to do and the attitudes shown to them. Far from building their confidence, as official documents suggest, this forced labour saps the spirit and wears down people’s mental health. And if they deviate at all from what they are being instructed to do they can end up sanctioned and penniless. In addition, rather than increase the numbers of people in paid work, these schemes actually cut across the creation of paid jobs. Why pay someone to work when you can get the labour for nothing? They also provide unfair competition to businesses who want to do the right thing by their workers. These schemes are a major source of worry for everyone who is faced with them, but they have not gone unchallenged – and challenges have elicited widespread support. Naming and shaming of companies and organisations who have exploited this forced labour has persuaded many well-known names to pull out of these schemes, and the Government refuses to publish the names of organisations involved as this would expose them to protests. Keep Volunteering Voluntary has persuaded large numbers of charities and non-profit organisations to sign up to their promise not to use forced labour. Workfare is an integral part of the ‘welfare reform’ juggernaut that is destroying our welfare state. We don’t have the power to change the rules, but a concerted programme of resistance organised at city level could provide a significant contribution to making them unworkable, and also highlight what is happening to those not already aware. We see the first (simple and easily instigated) steps as falling under two headings: 1/ We call on the City Council to agree that it will not itself be party to any workfare schemes and that it will make non-participation a condition for any organisation in receipt of council funding. 2/ We also call on the Council to give official backing to a well-publicised campaign to give formal recognition to all businesses and organisations who agree not to participate in these schemes. This would be similar to the scheme operated by Keep Volunteering Voluntary (who are very interested in the idea of a no-workfare city), but would include commercial organisations and not just voluntary ones. Organisations who have agreed not to exploit workfare would be listed in a well-publicised website and licensed to display a ‘no-workfare city’ logo on their window and publicity materials so that the general public would know where they could go without patronising organisations that use forced labour. This sort of opt-in scheme would avoid the difficulties of getting the accurate and up-to-date information needed for a name and shame list. However, it does need to be very well publicised so that organisations feel under sufficient pressure to take part. Publicity would also help prevent small voluntary organisations from being persuaded by misleadingly worded DWP documents into thinking that by participating in these schemes they are helping unemployed people. It would enable them instead to provide real help that people can access on a voluntary basis.

The 19 and 20 bus routes serve areas of the city which are not covered by other bus services, so the council's proposals will cut off a vital lifeline to the residents living along those routes, especially those who are old or have limited mobility. Reliable and frequent bus services near to where people live reduce congestion and air pollution, both of which are major problems for the whole city. Cutting these services will force even more people to drive, making these problems worse. This is part of a major consultation on bus services in York and we will be submitting this petition as part of the response to the consultation.

First, there was the evidence that the Conservative party broke the law in three key by-elections. Now, the party faces allegations that dozens of its MPs broke the law to win their seats in the 2015 general election itself. The party, already under investigation over its campaign spending, now faces calls for an investigation into possible criminal conspiracy. But will it be held to account? The Director of Public Prosecutions says they do not have the power to investigate but they may ask the police. If there is enough pressure placed upon them, perhaps they will and regardless to your political persuasion, surely it is the right of the British population to have a fair democracy?

Continuing to enforce this ban will impact on the very essence of Museums, to teach and to educate. In the Museums' own words, the new exhibition 'A world of fragile parts' aims to “question the relationship between the copy and the original in a society that privileges authenticity”. How is this possible without document? There is no issue of copyright, nor of (usually) entrance fee. The Museum claims that unclogging the gangways will lead to more visitors. I argue it will lead to less, and destroy part of the soul of the Museum, for after all, to quote Le Corbusier. “Drawing in a sketchbook,” he wrote, “teaches first to look, and then to observe and finally perhaps to discover … and it is then that inspiration might come.” Please continue to allow the people to learn in these ways.

My eight year old is in Ton Yr Ywen Primary year 3. My youngest who currently attends Nursery there has been refused a place. We are unable to be in two places at the same time. But it would be to emotionally traumatic for my eldest son to be moved. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education/mums-three-year-old-child-11229150

On April 1st a woefully-ill-equipped private firm, Coperforma, replaced the NHS’s South East Coast Ambulance Service in a botched privatisation of NHS services. The mobile phone app the company uses often doesn’t work, especially in areas of poor mobile reception and its own ambulance drivers have said the company is ‘out of its depth’. The result? • Cancer patients have missed oncology appointments after ambulances failed to turn up to collect them. • Patients with kidney failure have not been able to receive scheduled sessions of kidney dialysis for the same reason, with some missing two of their three treatments in a week. • So many patients have become stuck at the Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton because their transport has not arrived that it has paid for taxis and other private vehicle suppliers to take them home. • Staff there have had to stay until midnight to ensure kidney patients arriving hours after their scheduled start time have received vital dialysis. • Coperforma vehicles have turned up to collect patients who have already died. Patients, relatives, NHS bodies, Trade Unions and local MPs have severely criticised the service’s performance but still local CCGs persist with the untenable private company. The previous public provider regularly had approval ratings of over 90%. For more information http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/12/patients-wait-hours-for-ambulances-nhs-transport-service-privatised-sussex http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/local/14432002.Patient_transport_company_out_of_its_depth__say_its_own_drivers/

No two schools are alike. But the government doesn't seem to agree. It wants to rush through plans to force every single school in England to become an academy the type of school paid for by taxpayers, but run by businesses, sponsors or trusts. Many teachers and parents are already standing against the plans, saying that they're "a step towards privatisation", ignore local views, and could force some schools to close. One size does not fit all, and local parents and teachers should have a say in the future of our school. ------ If this isn't your local school, click here to sign your local petition, or start one if no-one else has yet: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-campaign-for-your-school