This is important for keeping the human rights and dignity, is important to stop these agencies making money from doing nothing. There is a lot of humiliation working as an agency staff - they make you work hard with no reward.

In 2012, the British Government introduced a minimum income threshold of £18,600 for sponsors of a spouse from outside the EU. This was increased to £22,400 for sponsoring a spouse and a child (and a further £2,400 for every additional child being sponsored). People on low income from all communities are affected by these rules. A direct result of this ruling causes families to be divided; sponsors are forced to work more than one job, or move to another EU country where the rules are not so divisive and fairer. British citizens and those who are settled in the UK are denied the right to family life that the British Government is arguably trying to promote. These rules have been condemned by many MP’s across party lines, many religious leaders and organisations like, Indian Workers Association, Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants, Immigrants’ Rights Network and Southall Black Sisters. This discriminatory aspect of the Immigration Act has been challenged in the High Court in a test case. The court ruled against the Government which was unfortunately overturned on appeal by the Government. This is now pending a hearing at the Supreme Court. It is widely accepted that though this may be legal in terms of legislation, it is definitely immoral and unethical to set income limit expectations higher than the national minimum wage. The Supreme Court has granted permission to hear the appeal relating to the minimum income requirement for partner visas in immigration cases. The date of the hearing has not been confirmed but it is likely to be before autumn 2015.

Penkridge Railway Station is in need of some urgent major attention. This appallingly unkempt building is the first thing visitors to Penkridge see as they leave the train to make their way into our beautiful village. Local residents have been patient but enough is enough, now we want some action to resolve this matter please. The building is apparently unstable internally and the question could be asked whether the exterior is entirely safe? Station House has not been used as a residential dwelling for many years and has remained empty and uncared for, resulting in it deteriorating. A complete overhaul is long overdue so it's about time Network Rail addressed the issues surrounding our dilapidated station by putting right what they have allowed to go wrong after years of neglect. Please put this building to good use, perhaps as a cafe with toilets or other such useful facility!

Many involved with the incident in Tunisia will have suffered financial issues far greater than the level of payment offered by the Tourist agents/Travel agents. Many will need assistance with ongoing medical costs, counselling & therapy, other expenses. Holiday insurance does not cover acts of terrorism. To date the majority of those affected were British Citizens and should be supported by the British government to recover from the effects of this horrendous act both physically and mentally.

Many people rely on NHS prescriptions every day in order to stay alive. Others rarely take medicine even when their doctor advises and prescribes it for them. While we agree that there is much to be done to control the waste of NHS prescribed medication we believe printing the cost on packaging will have several negative results: 1. People who are already reluctant to take vital medication will have an even better excuse to ignore their doctor's advice - "I don't want to cost the NHS money if I don't need to..." 2. People who rely on medication to survive and/or enjoy a decent quality of life are already fully aware of how much their medication costs. They have no choice - they NEED the medication to survive & being constantly reminded of the cost will put them under extreme pressure & could have a negative psychological effect by making those people feel ashamed, a burden or worse, not deserving of life. 3. Identifying the most expensive medications in this way will make it easier for anybody with the intention of stealing said drugs, either from a pharmacy or an individual to quickly take & sell the most sought after black market medications. 4. The words "Funded by the UK taxpayer" are very divisive and will only serve to highlight an already widening disparity between those who are earning and those who are unable to work because of sickness or permanent disability. There are other ways to combat the waste of medications, including: 1. Changing regulations to allow unused medications to be returned to a regulated pharmacy in order to be re-distributed to another patient. 2. Encouraging all doctors to only prescribe what is necessary. 3. Setting up a national medication waste database to identify and catalogue which drugs are most often wasted, where and why.

All schools in the UK need qualified teachers to fill in for short and long term staff absence in order to provide the best education and a seamless handover for children in the classroom. In England, the provision of substitute/supply teachers is now administered by private employment agencies. Some agencies take up to 100% mark up on charges to schools for supply teachers. Supply teachers are paid significantly less than their full time colleagues for doing the same job and yet schools are being made to pay more for their services per day because of the expense of the middle man.  This money was ring-fenced for education, but it is ending up in the hands of the corporate shareholders of recruitment companies.  Millions of pounds of public money is being lost to private, profit-making companies. It is not being used to pay for teachers, special needs support staff, classroom equipment, books, computers, children's' services or staff training. Schools are responsible for their financial prudence. Agencies do not have to account for how they deploy the money they receive. There is little or no inward reinvestment from the agencies; they take but they do not give back. That money is gone for good; money that tax-payers were assured was specifically for education not the sales agents and investors and shareholders of the recruitment agency market.  Schools are being asked to cut spending, and yet most schools have no choice but to source supply teachers from agencies who now control over 70% of the temporary and supply teacher market in England and Wales. As teacher numbers dwindle, the need for substitute and short term cover increases. Agencies are cashing in on this. But why should they? They are not publicly accountable and there is no statutory regulator to oversee their business activities. They are not recognised by the Department for Education as approved education service providers, so their candidates, although qualified as teachers, are not eligible for the Teachers' Pension Scheme or included in the remit of the pay review body, the STRB. By contrast, in other parts of the UK, namely in Northern Ireland and Scotland, there are no agencies. Schools do not pay a middleman to source their substitute teachers. They source their temporary staff directly from a publicly accountable central register. Teachers are paid to scale, tax revenue from their pay goes back into public services. No one profits out of schools. The Welsh Government has also recently set up a teacher booking system, leaving England as the only part of the UK that still undervalues and rips off teachers, when there is a national recruitment and retention crisis. To add insult to injury, many agencies insist that supply teachers are paid via umbrella payroll companies. This results in a significant loss of tax revenue, causing further cuts to public services. It is a ludicrous situation that could be reversed immediately if a publicly accountable central register of substitute teachers were in place as it is in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Most supply teachers would prefer to be paid directly by schools and local authorities. They resent agencies charging high fees to schools for their services. What agencies do, does not justify their fees. The teachers do the work in increasingly challenging schools. It's a rip-off. Can the Secretary of State for Education investigate profiteering out of the Education system?  Nearly 5000 signatories believe it is time to stop the rip-off. There is no benefit to children, parents, schools or communities. In a cost of living crisis, we cannot afford their services.  Stop the rip-off in our schools.  Get rid of the agencies and ensure that your money is spent directly on our children.

Many of the road sweepers in Harringey do a great job starting early and having to clear the sort of filth of a streets that im sure you all can imagine, these sweepers are trying to do the right thing by working and paying there way even though the salery is at the bottom end its them who are getting effected by the cuts, I mean at the moment Veolia has 9 chargehands supervising the street sweepers and 9 managers watching the chargehands, This all seems to unfair to both the public and lowend paid street sweepers

Deaths of our citizens in a foreign land were enough to secure a minute's silence recently. It's time the government formally acknowledge their complicity in the deaths of the sick and disabled on our own shores by the malicious manipulation and abrogation of the benefits system, when evidence made clear the policy was causing harm.

The Red Lion Public House dates back to the 17th Century, and is an important historic Grade II Listed building, and an irreplaceable feature of the village of Gedney Hill in rural Lincolnshire. In the past it has been a thriving business at the centre of the community, but in recent years neglect, mismanagement and underinvestment on the part of the owner has led to it's decline and closure. The building has now been sold to an individual who intends to convert the site into a house, and demolish part of the porch structure on the front of the oldest part of the listed building. This is now the only public house remaining in this area, and many local people believe that under the right ownership it could again be a popular venue and a successful and sustainable business. Please help to ensure the future of this vital hub of local village life by signing the petition.

Last November, Liz Truss the Environment Secretary launched the Pollinator Strategy with its aim of protecting pollinating insects which support our food production and the diversity of our environment. As I'm sure you're already aware, bees numbers are in serious decline and action needs to be taken now. This strategy sets out a 10 year plan to help pollinating insects survive and thrive. One of the main reasons our bees are in decline is the loss of suitable food sources and a home. Councils across the UK are ignoring the letter and spirit of the pollinator strategy and continue to blindly cut roadside verges which do not need cutting for road safety purposes. It's time to ask all UK councils, the Highways Agency and businesses etc which have grass verges and grassland on site to do their bit to support the spirit of the Pollinator's strategy. The lack of suitable food for pollinators is a huge issue and our bees are starving because of our obsession with tidiness. If this strategy is adopted it would make a huge difference to the lives of bees and other pollinators across the UK before it is too late. We acknowledge that safety must come first on our roads but with the size of most road verges there should be no conflict between this and conservation. For many verges a regular annual late summer cut and removal of mowings will keep the verge open, safe and thriving with interesting wildlife. We also agree that certain verges must be cut regularly cut to maintain clear lines of visibility – this is particularly crucial at junctions where a ‘visibility splay’ has to be maintained at all times. On some busy roads this also applies to the first metre from the edge of the carriageway. Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pollinator-strategy-for-bees-and-other-pollinators-in-england Please ask your local council to adopt the Pollinator strategy for managing road verges to benefit wild flowers and other nature. Priorities for safety and access, along with budget constraints and difficulties with the collection of litter and grass clippings can mean that enhancing their wildlife value is often low on the list. But we believe that the adoption of a few basic principles will improve our verges for nature, bringing benefits for wildlife, for us and for future generations.

If something is not done a lot of parents will, and have spent a huge chunk of their maternity leave in hospital.

Broomhill has been a hub in the centre of the community in Gedling, Nottingham for over twenty years. The centre works with people who have enduring and complex mental health problems, helping them to move back to independent living. It is a Nurse-led, 12 bedded inpatient unit. In addition, it supports at least 15 patients in the community who are ex-residents, some of whom have no families or support network. In 2014 the Care Quality Commissioners inspected Broomhill and reported that it is an effective well run service that provides an excellent quality of care. The NHS Trust that Broomhill is part of is planning to close the unit down by October 1st 2015. The in-patients at Broomhill have very difficult needs. They require very skilled help and good therapeutic relationships before they are able to live independently. If Broomhill is closed it is likely one of 3 things will happen to our patients with complex needs: they will be discharged from acute mental health wards into the community and receive an hour or two a week visits from a Community Mental health Team. It’s very likely that this will not be enough to prevent them from relapsing. They will have to stay on the acute hospital wards for a long time. This takes up expensive beds and prevents others from getting a bed and not getting the rehabilitation and recovery work they need The Trust will have to pay for very expensive services from another organisation, often in the private sector, and a long way from the patients’ home. We are all very used to hearing that ‘Cuts are necessary’, but Broomhill is an amazing example of a service that shows excellent quality. Relapse is not just devastating for the patient but in the long term costs dearly and adds pressure to the NHS and other stretched public services. Why break something up that works well and has helped so many patients and their carers? You can read more information about Broomhill on this blog post: https://home.38degrees.org.uk/2015/07/16/save-broomhill-rehabilitation-centre/