Like many other people who watched the news on Wednesday 5th November, I was shocked by the article on children and young adults with autism locked away by councils in institutions across the country, far away from their families, where they were bullied and mocked by staff and in one case attacked by a fellow inpatient with a history of committing murder. As a nation we should protect these doubly vulnerable young people: under age and with mental health issues. We need to increase spending in this area so that preventative care can be given in the community; so that care homes are radically improved, and made available locally where needed; so that the people working in them can be properly vetted (salaries in the care industry generally need to increase hugely - not just those of managers, but workers on the ground) and finally so that there are sufficient facilities that children can be housed according to their needs, e.g. children with records of violence (especially of murder) housed separately to those without histories of violence. If bullying does take place the staff involved should be sacked, not simply 'retrained', but this can only happen if staff are paid a higher wage, their working conditions improved and there isn't such a dearth of people in the sector. On a separate but related note: the law which prevents parents from visiting their own children in these institutions should be reconsidered.

Such a fund ensures that any accrued money would not be frittered away on day to day expenditure. It would be built up over time, as in Norway. Any interest would be used as a resource to bolster schools, road infrastructure, poverty initiatives, social projects, etc.

i have been a carer since 1993 with very little recognition or reward is time for this to change as the 6.5 million carers save the government 120 billion per year this Government will have saved 600 billion by the election by denying carers what all other workers have. its time that changed for good

Fireworks with an explosive bang frighten ex-service people; people with anxiety; stops cows from lactating; panics dogs, cats, birds and other pets; can cause heart attacks / shock and result in death for animals which accidentally consume the products of fired / misfired explosive devices i.e. fireworks. Pets and people go missing around the time of Diwali, Halloween, Bonfire night , Eid, New years (all), other parties. The loud bang is unnecessary to the firework's impact. Please save our planet's lifestock and get this unnecessary noisy element banned. Let's enjoy the whizz ssshhhh of fireworks and reject the shotgun effect.

Approx. £1.9m was wrongly collected from 70 thousand motorists who were not aware they were even entering a bus lane. The adjudicator said the signs were confusing and inadequate, so these fines should not be enforced. Innocent motorists, many of whom were visiting the nearby Children's Hospital, have paid the fines not realising the Councils serious errors, but no offence whatsoever has been committed. Birmingham City Council are refusing to repay the money and now refuse to discuss this in the public domain, reverting to debating in a private session with no one else allowed to know what has happened in the meeting. Citizens and visitors to Birmingham, experiencing recently altered city centre road layouts, will find this confusing. You can read more about how this happened here: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/new-birmingham-city-centre-bus-6681476

NHS England are stewards of the NHS's £95 billion budget. How it spends our money matters. We know that roughly two thirds of its budget goes to local groups to buy care, with the rest spent centrally by NHS England on mainly specialised and primary care services. However, unlike other government agencies, NHS England has never published details of where its money is going. Since May 2010, government departments and their agencies have published monthly reports on all their spending over £25,000. This was a commitment to transparency that would allow taxpayers to see where money is being paid out and what it is going on, so that we could better judge if it is being spent wisely. This meant that we could see, for example, the amount of money the Department of Health paid to management consultants; how much was finding its way to companies with strong political links; and whether unpopular policies were draining resources. Other NHS bodies, like the regulator Monitor[1], regularly tell us how they are spending our money. But, in the two years since it was established, NHS England has never once published this data. NHS England says it is committed to transparency. And it is fast opening up and sharing other data on health services, including our personal data. NHS chief, Simon Stevens claims that NHS England “has set new standards for openness and transparency in all of its operations, compared with what went before.” This is not the case. In August NHS England said it would publish its spending data in September. Then it said by the end of October. It has yet to publish it. Don’t let NHS England kick the can down the road. Tell them that you want to see how it is spending our money now. Thanks to pressure from 38 Degrees, earlier this year NHS England made a commitment to publish details of its top executives' meetings with private companies. We can put pressure on them now to do what they should have been doing all along: tell us where the money is going. We are repeatedly warned about the NHS’s dire financial situation. We hear of hospitals facing bankruptcy, services being rationed, and the need for massive savings to be made if the NHS is to survive. But first, we need to see that the stewards of the NHS budget are spending with care and where it matters. Tell Simon Stevens to come clean about how NHS England spends our money. Notes [1] Monitor spending over £25,000, April 2010 - June 2014: http://data.gov.uk/dataset/financial-transactions-data-monitor

The recent court case in Norfolk where a gamekeeper was found guilty of poisoning 10 buzzards and a Sparrowhawk and only receiving a paltry 10 week suspended sentence, highlights the need for these birds to be given far better protection with much heavier sentences to the perpetrators, which should include the landowners who these gamekeeper work for. The killing of these birds is widespread is something I find totally abhorrent as these people are destroying creatures that belong to all of and are an absolute delight to see.

Glandwr Cymru, who own the canal in water from Clydach to Ynysmeudwy, wish to restore this section (including the lock) and, in conjunction, with the City and County of Swansea regenerate the site. The plans include a small number of new homes, an attractive public open space and improved pedestrian and cycle access to the area. This will completely reinvigorate the lower end of Pontardawe Road, enhance the environment and bring significant benefits to the community. The Swansea Canal Society fully supports this restoration and development plan. On the 2nd of December, the CRT Development Manager, has been allocated a ten minute slot at 5.00pm to present the full plans to all the Swansea Councillors. The Swansea Canal Society sincerely hopes that you too will support this scheme. We wish to hand in a petition of support for this project to the Leader of the Swansea Council on December the 2nd. Please add your name to this petition.

This display will only happen ONCE, it takes time and organising for people and family's to save their money and find time to get to London to see this, for anyone 100 plus miles away it gets very expensive, this applies to well over half the population.

On 5th November 2014, Falmouth University announced the closure of their Contemporary Crafts degree. This degree, with historic roots in pottery & ceramics, is vital to the Cornish economy & creative culture. Let's not lose something with such personal, regional and national importance. There has been a ceramics/crafts course attached to the Falmouth School of Art since 1976, when Tom Cross was appointed Principal and the School continued to develop its resources by improving its sculpture studios and creating a new studio for ceramic sculpture. Adding ceramics to Falmouth School of Art, founded in 1902. The links between ceramics and crafts at Falmouth School of art and the wider economy cannot be underestimated with ex graduates flourishing both county, country and internationally. As we, as a society, increasingly lose the skills to make things and forget that not everyone wants to pursue academic studies, this is a course which applauds creativity and talent and maintains the nation’s skill bases. How can it be appropriate to close down one of the countries few excellent facilities? Again, a price has been placed on a course without considering the long term future of the individuals and future generations. How disappointing! The Contemporary Craft course isn't just about learning and training in a skill, it is about pushing boundaries, discovering new processes, working with inspirational peers and lecturers, and most of all a chance to explore who you are as a maker. We demand Falmouth School of Art reconsider this closure for the betterment of the school and the wider community. The cultural enrichment of ceramics and craft courses to both Cornwall and the wider community and the contributions Falmouth School of Art graduates make to the cultural development of the county, cannot be measured by spreadsheet. Sometimes the right choice is not about money and we would hope that upon realising the support for these courses both county and country wide, the University and its Director, Vice-Chancellor & CEO, will reconsider severing the ties between the vibrant crafts community and the university. as 38degrees petitions require a UK post code, if you are outside the UK and want to sign please send your name and comment to [email protected]

So that silence cannot be bought by managers of the NHS for their own benefit. For example, the Baby P case.

This effectively removes the main option for exercise in the local area for anyone without a considerable income (whom already have many private fitness options). There are no other alternatives in Saltash. It will add to the UK's obesity problem, effectively costing the council more in the long run. It's a terrible idea that isn't thought through at all, this ruthless cost cutting jeapordises the health of Saltash residents.