TRAVELLERS AND GYPSIES ARE SUFFERING BECAUSE OF CHANGES TO THE LEGAL AID SYSTEM.WE NEED THE LAW TO BE CHANGED

Local and Live 2014 was, I'm sure you'll agree, a fabulous success. Whilst we all enjoyed the fabulous music and the excellent organisation this year, most of us are aware of just how difficult it has been for Paul and his team to deal with garnering financial support and all the other issues involved in putting on an event like this. We hope that by asking for your help and support to be noted to TWBC at this stage, any detractors or obstacles to the event being held again in 2015 will be lessened and positive support and publicity can start now.

Based on data from the ‘Crime Survey for England and Wales’ around 473,000 adults were victims of sexual offences (around 404,000 females and 72,000 males) on average per year from 2009-2012 (Sexual Offending in England and Wales, 2013). 90% of victims of the most serious sexual offences reported they knew the perpetrator, yet only 15 per cent of victims of such offences said that they had reported it to the police. Stating that it was ‘embarrassing’, they ‘didn’t think the police could do much to help’, that the incident was ‘too trivial or not worth reporting’, or that they saw it as a ‘private/family matter and not police business’. We must learn from the tragic case of Frances Andrade, who tragically died at her home in Guildford, Surrey in January 2013, just a week after giving evidence in court about historical sexual abuse by her former choirmaster. Her husband, Levine Andrade, 59, found his wife, known as Fran, dead at 8am on 24 January last year. He said, "Apart from the trial bringing it all back up she felt the defence barrister seemed to be attacking her personally. "It got her completely down and she felt completely defenceless. I think she felt she was not prepared enough for the trial. She was not expecting to be attacked personally and have to answer so many direct questions in public. Much more needs to be done to provide and promote professional high-quality support services to help victims move on with their lives. Only when victims have sufficient support can they make the choice to go through the criminal justice system. More importantly victims must have sufficient professional support to endure the often lengthy and protracted court process. In the policy 'Ending violence against women and girls in the UK' it stated that the government would part-fund 87 independent sexual violence advisers and pledging £1.2 million for 3 years from 2012 to improve services. The problem is this funding will end in 2015 and 87 part-funded ISVA's are far from adequate for the number of victims we have in the UK. We need to put this on the public and government agenda before the next elections.

1. This is a lifeline road for the west coast communities. The A9 is an unacceptable alternative. 2. Their are far too many accidents - many fatal - on this road 3. Between Crianlarich and Fort Augustus there is no real alternative route following the many closures this road suffers. 4. Lorries and buses/coaches frequently have difficulty passing; in particular on the Loch Lomondside section between Tarbet and Inverarnan. 5. The road surface does not meet 21st Century standards - despite many repairs/patches - costing drivers for the repairs to their vehicles.

The current plans to extend the M4 motorway will put otters, rare bees and wildflowers at risk. It would cut across the 'Amazon Rainforest' of Wales, the Gwent Levels, which is a haven for wildlife. Traffic around Newport needs to be improved but it would be better for Wales and the environment if the Welsh government invests in public transport instead. If we want to protect the environment for future generations we need to come up with alternatives to big polluting motorways. The Assembly's own environmental regulator and advisory body, Natural Resources Wales, is against these plans.

Closing schools on Thursdays causes maximum difficulties for child care, disrupts education if an extra day is not put into the term time.

It was "born" in Tredegar & vital for the health and welfare of the whole of the UKs population and should remain as it was intended. FREE for the people

The planning law below permits a single A4 notice somewhere near the site to be the only notification required to inform rural residents and local communities of an application for large, commercial wind turbine; no letters, no leaflets, no press notices. This is because the size of the base area permits it to be classified as a ‘minor’ application. This means many residents would never get an opportunity to submit objections within the 21 day ‘deadline’ due to their age, infirmity and isolation or simply by not hearing about it. Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure)(Wales) Order 2012 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2012/801/made The relevant extract from that legislation is in the section: (5) and (6) Publicity for applications for planning permission, Part 2 – Applications.

At the moment hospitals across Wales and the NHS in Wales are struggling to survive and staff are stretched to the limit. . We need to fund more nursing staff and also to stop the current ridiculous abuse of the system where people go to A&E just to get a packet of Paracetamol or Calpol for nothing or ask their doctors for medication they do not need and probably will not take. A basic charge of £3.00 would stop such abuse of the system, and there could be a cap of £10.00 if people needed several items. This additional money would transform our NHS in Wales and provide jobs for much needed nursing staff.

So many older drivers having accidents or causing accidents. A 96 year old woman killed a tourist and did not even know she had caused an accident. Too many elderly drivers driving around oblivious of bad driving habits.

Sunderland Councils Assistant Head of Law and Governance does not have the authority to decide where the public interest lies. The reply informed the requester the following: (I HAVE CONSIDERED WHERE THE PUBLIC INTEREST LIES) in respect of making the report public in response to your request. I do note that, as you indicate within the body of the request, the conclusion of the report is already in the public domain. While it is apparent that some members of the public, including yourself, consider they would benefit from seeing the report in full, and I take it you would prefer to see proof of the valuation, it is apparent that individuals remain intent on campaigning against this development. In this context, where information has previously been provided by the council in all good faith this has routinely been misinterpreted and misrepresented by individuals, in ways that are in fact misleading to the public and which generate a further administrative burden to the council in addressing and correcting these misconceptions. While I appreciate that you may not be among those individuals who have misused information in this way, it must be remembered that release of information under FOI has the effect of making it available to everyone.) The full reply can be viewed by following this link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/237101463/SCC-Ref-14-05-62 This person has decided that she can decide where the public interest lies in respect of making the report public. The ratepayers of Sunderland have a right to see the file the council holds on the sale of the land at Marine Walk. They have a right to decide if procedures were followed. How could the information within the file be misused / misinterpreted or misrepresented if all is aboveboard? SCC has by their own admission spent thousands of pounds of ratepayer’s money and many man-hours refusing a simple request to view the details of a land sale??? I request Sunderland City Council release the information held on the sale of land on Marine Walk Roker Sunderland.

This is an important issue whereby many women over the age of 55 particularly will suffer financial hardship through no fault of their own. There has been no proper planning or compensation considered for or this small minority of women which will suffer as a result. Many women over 50 find themselves living alone and had always expected to retire with a state pension at 60. The new legislation has not given woman a fair enough amount of time to prepare for such a major financial disruption to their lives.