Following our successful campaign in 2015 the County Council is now revisiting its options for the Countryside it owns on our behalf. It is encouraging that the statements in the published papers reiterate the success of this campaign and state that the land will not be sold BUT options do include long term leases potentially with commercial operators. We need the County Councillors to ensure the detail of any management plan, lease or contractual agreements protect the green spaces, the wildlife and the community access. It is ours to enjoy not theirs for profit We continue to call upon Staffordshire County Council to commit to preserving our natural heritage, for the common good. And to reject the notion that a private profit motive should play any part in owning, or managing our much loved green spaces. The original text was as follows *Staffordshire County Council is currently consulting on a range of options concerning their (our) countryside estate. Their options explicitly include "Disposal of sites on the open market", "Land rental for industrial development" and "a private sector partnership". The countryside estate includes Country Parks, picnic areas, country walks (along disused lines etc.) and also sites where public access is currently restricted in aid of wildlife conservation etc. Each of these sites are highly valued green spaces, that are treasured by the local population, and by those from further afield alike. The loss of these areas of natural beauty would be felt by many, and in similar cases they also tend to be irreversible; meaning once these sites are lost from public ownership, they may never be returned.

This is very important because the situation in Syria is disastrous and the number of people who are killed and dispersed is similar to the second world war. Britain generally, Wales and Swansea specifically has along and proud tradition of providing refuge at times of crisis. EU countries have agreed on a quota of 60,000 Syrian refugees to be accepted in each country. Germany has taken 30,000 so far. Where are we in this? Only 187 Syrian people has been accepted so far. People there are killed by three large armies. The government army supplied by Russian artillery, the Isis terrorists groups, and also the American warplanes which is targeting civilian's area anonymously in its search for the Isis and killing the innocent civilians who live there. Most refugees have witnessed horrific violence and many have seen their homes destroyed by bombs or have lost family members. Thousands of Syrians flee their country every day. They often decide to finally escape after seeing their neighbourhoods bombed or family members killed. For all the reasons mentioned above we have to take part in welcoming the most vulnerable refugees in the word, of which the Syrians make the largest part of.

Andrew Smith MP sums it up brilliantly: “It would be socially damaging and a false economy if more children and young people are held back in deprivation and troubled lives as a result, because the long term human and economic costs of that are huge.” Please do not shut our childrens' centres, they are invaluable resources in our troubled times, and to remove them will cause even more suffering and hardship for those already most in need. The council has agreed to reduce its £16m budget for children’s centres and early intervention hubs by 2018. It is part of savings of £284m planned, but Councillors say more may be needed in the face of further Government cuts expected next year. (source:Oxford Mail, 16th June 2015.)

On 4th June NHS England asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to suspend its programme on safe staffing in the NHS. The capacity for independent review of researched evidence on safe staffing, provided by NICE and called for by Sir Robert Francis in his Mid Staffs report, has been discarded. We need you to sign this petition today! REVERSE THE DECISION RT HON JEREMY HUNT! AFTER THE GREAT WORK THAT JEREMY HUNT HAS CHAMPIONED FOR PATIENT SAFETY IN THE NHS, MANY ARE SHOCKED AND SURPRISED AT THIS DEVELOPMENT. Sir Robert Francis QC who led the Public Inquiry into the Disaster at Mid Staffs has spoken out in concern by releasing a press statement and said, “While there is nothing wrong, and indeed everything to be said, for NHS England reviewing staffing levels, I specifically recommended the work which NICE has been undertaking for a reason, namely, they have an evidence-based and analytical approach. NICE also has an advantage not enjoyed by NHS England of being independent. It is important to establish practical guidance, based on the needs of patients, which will enable providers, commissioners and service users alike to understand whether a particular service is safely staffed.” Julie Bailey founder of ‘Cure the NHS’ says: “It is critical that this work is done independently. We cannot allow this important work to be sabotaged. We have all waited too long for this already. Our fear is that the guidance will be based on cost and not evidence, anymore. Removing NICE from this critical work in our opinion is a step backwards for patient and staff safety.” This is about making sure patients are safe in our A&E departments. It’s about making sure that vulnerable people receive safe care when treated at home or are discharged from hospital into our communities. For years Julie Bailey CBE and the group she formed with the Mid Staffs families’ Cure the NHS’ campaigned for Safe Staffing levels on our NHS wards and eventually won the fight for a Public Inquiry. The result was the Francis report which exposed the deaths and suffering of hundreds of people. The report produced a massive 290 recommendations, which changed the landscape of our NHS for the better, to keep ourselves and our families safe. Julie’s mum died because the NHS centrally driven target approach put finances before safe care. She worked tirelessly for the rights of patients to receive safe care, losing her home and her café business in the process. Again Julie is fighting this campaign to make sure the NHS has enough staff to make care safe. Please sign the petition.

Students and teachers alike are frustrated with the constant changes to the education system. Sometimes these changes are necessary but in this case it is simply a great inconvienience not only to teaching but also to employers. I am seriously annoyed by this proposed change to levels 1-9 instead of GCSE grades and extremely glad that I have narrowly escaped from this having just completed my GCSEs. If you want to keep current GCSE grading please sign this campaign.

The government and the national planning framework and many influential organisations such as Nature England have provided clear guidelines on what are the most suitable sites for large scale Solar panel installations. The Energy Minister has quoted that such installations should preferably be on brownfield sites. Many in the community believe that Solstice Renewables are giving very little consideration to these guidelines with this proposal - and this has angered many who value the community they live in. If this goes ahead, we believe this beautiful village landscape, which adjoins the South Downs National Park, will be ruined for atleast the next 25 years. Solstice have acknowledged that they should be seeking more brownfield sites for such developments, but then are entering into deals with landowners to convert perfectly decent agricultural land to solar Installations, in the heart of communities and bringing misery to residents who love their views and their countryside. The Localism Act 2011 is giving communities more say about their local environment. We don't accept what this company is doing, do not believe it has considered fully the planning guidelines set out and are campaigning to get the proposal refused. We believe that these companies must focus much more on the sites they should be focusing on: brownfield sites, rooftops and land that is well hidden from communities, not on top of them. We petition our MP Damian Hinds to bring pressure to bear on this company to do the right thing and find a more suitable location. " We are not against renewable energy - far from it. Bentley already has a large solar farm identical to this proposal and has already done its share of combating global warming. 5 MW for 430 houses in the parish works out at 12 kW a house. This is far more electricity than we use. If every other community did the same we would soon solve the energy crisis."

Children have enough pressure and to constantly either be told their qualifications are not good enough or to put more stress on this age group is not good enough. The vagaries of each examining body need adjusting to structure the same achievements on all pupils.

Do you think that British citizens living in EU countries and worldwide should be able to vote in the UK's EU referendum? There are at least 3 million Brits living in EU countries but many of them will not be able to vote! The results of the referendum will affect all of us, no matter where we live. Do you know that British citizens who have lived abroad for more than 15 years lose their right to vote in UK elections? David Cameron has promised in this Parliament to give UK citizens living abroad a lifetime right to vote in UK elections, but he has said that this will not happen before the EU referendum. If Britain did leave the EU, what would happen to people who live in EU countries? Would they become illegal immigrants in their EU homes? Would they lose their rights in those countries? What if they all came back to Britain? Where would they live? What would they do? A lot of ex-pat Brits are old. How would they cope, and how would the UK cope with them? Isn't it unfair and a bit crazy that they cannot vote in a referendum that will affect every part of their lives?

More than three million UK pupils are being under-funded for their education because central government, incredibly, does not fund basic education costs and extra learning needs equally across the country. Local Authorities are allocated money for schools based on out-dated, historical criteria, which has created shocking underfunding of pupils in more than 50 areas, across the country. Schools in those areas have only managed through their thrift, resourcefulness and others' charity. Their deprived children have not received the extra funding that they need and would receive if they lived elsewhere in England and all of their pupils have been affected. This unacceptable situation has been going on for decades, obscured to the public by layers of funding complexity. But no longer: it is time for parents and communities to push for change urgently, because, with education cuts forecast, more than a ⅓ of the already underfunded schools can no longer make do and mend - they face bankruptcy. Millions of our children's futures are at stake.

Britain has a huge responsibility for the present chaos in Libya and Iraq yet expects the rest of Europe to shoulder the repercussions. Everyone in England is an immigrant as are all Europeans: we all came here from Africa!. There is something particularly distasteful in the language of racial prejudice and the casual cruelty of refusing to welcome refugees suffering at least in part as a result of recent English foreign policy disasters.

Firstly to ensure that those thrown out on the scrap heap of unemployed because the MOD wish to reduce pension rights for veterans. Next to Keep them off the streets. Thirdly to reduce the chance of becoming a statistic and finally for helping veterans to have something else other than low paid security work. The disused barrack and homes and ex married quarters could be maintained and used for training or veterans to enable them to take up work and also then mean that providing a charity set up as Barrack homes for Ex Service Personnel could result in less veterans finishing up in prison or homeless on the streets. Why? because often, families have moved on and it is so difficult to adapt to civilian life. How do I know? I am a veteran and it took me over 5 years to come to terms with having nowhere and no one

The Scottish Parliament was brought into being to bring the standards of democracy in Britain up to those in other parts of the European Union. For Westminster to give itself the right to disolve that parliament at any time without the agreement of the Scottish people is not only against the will of the Scottish people but the will of the Council of Europe. In taking away the Scottish Governments power to veto the repeal 'The Human Rights' Act, Westminster also taking away the rights of the Scottish people who did not vote for the Conservatives or Labourbut voted for 56 SNP mps to represent them.