The NHS is internationally envied for its clinical excellency, efficiency and moral courage. Following the purchaser provider split and changes under New Labour in the late 1990's, the introduction of private contracting has diverted profits from services out of the NHS into wealth creating companies. Subsequently healthcare professionals and patients have seen and felt the NHS change for the worse. Since this Conservative party came into government they have undertaken steps to undermine the financial viability and safety of care provided by the NHS through an ideological choice of chronic underfunding. To quote Noam Chomsky, "that's the standard technique of privatisation: defund, make sure things don't work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital". They are now targeting staff and junior doctors. Following negotiations with the BMA doctors union, the department of health offered an unacceptable contract which would reduce patient safety, increase junior doctor fatigue, reduce recognized out-of-hours commitment, and significantly reduce take-home pay. When junior doctors refused the governments precondition to accept ALL of these proposals as a basis to a final contract as a condition of restarting negotiations, the BMA found themselves accused of ‘walking away’ from the table and informed that the contract would simply be imposed upon them in August 2016. Junior doctors, side by side with other healthcare professionals, work in an increasingly pressurised and under-resourced setting, and are known as the medical workhorse of the NHS. Their current working pattern is antisocial and labour intensive, as anybody who lives with or is friends with a junior doctor will know. Tiredness is compounded by a sense of disenchantment, which may explain why these professional healthcare groups did not feel energised enough to understand or stand up to the government on their introduction of the Health and Social Care Act in 2012. Legislation which is leading to the erosion of the NHS in the hands of a Jeremy Hunt, who prior to his appointment as health minister wrote of this ideological support for privatisation of the NHS. Junior doctors now face a situation where their self-perceived head to the ground and carry-on grafting attitude is being rewarded by a contract which is estimated to lead to a startling 20-40% reduction in take home wages depending on speciality, and longer and less protected shifts. The new system would provide us with the assurance of a 20 minute break per 11 hour shift worked. Fatigue from grueling shifts are acknowledged to cause impaired performance, a sobering and concerning fact for patients. We as junior doctors accept that our pay has declined against inflation for years. However, we are asking that this government's ideological CHOICE to devalue our profession, and take money and morale from junior doctors, when the financial privileges freedoms of the very rich and financial sector are protected, be acknowledged and challenged. We oppose government ministers with personal wealth of millions using our wages, which when compared to other peers with similar backgrounds in university and post-graduate years in training are modest, as another excuse to paint the NHS as 'unaffordable'. An NHS which is acknowledged as excellent in the care it delivers, and one of the most efficient services on the planet. This Junior Doctor contract campaign must form part of a wider effort to oppose the overarching plan to ultimately do away with the NHS. As things stand, in 20 years, I as a junior doctor will be working as a private consultant for a private health provider, possibly earning more than an NHS consultant, but paying for my own and my families healthcare in times of greatest vulnerability. I would not chose to be treated by, or treat on behalf of, private companies and insurance merchants for whom profit is the primary concern. A great many who earn less than me may go without the best chances of surviving illness due to their bank balance. I reject that future. I wish to work proudly as an NHS doctor, in the United Kingdom. I believe that patients also wish to be treated by a trustworthy NHS rather than a private company. An NHS staffed by motivated, valued and supported professionals and not by profit. Please sign this petition to support junior doctors, the NHS, and the public.

The Government is currently preparing its Spending Review for the next 5 years and adult education is under threat. Without continued Government support for adult education, many courses across the country will simply not be sustainable and will disappear. Thousands of hard working and hugely motivated adult students will be denied the chance to improve their lives. We need you to help fight to protect this investment in our people and our communities. Please sign this petition. This campaign is being led by the Workers' Educational Association - the UK's largest provider of voluntary adult education - for and on behalf of everyone involved in adult and community learning.

We're going to see Iain Duncan Smith next month and we want to take this petition with us with as many names as possible. You may not get why we're so wound up about it. Let me share a few stories (all real, local people). Before I do, lets just remember what tax credits are for. They are contributions from the government towards the cost of ofsted registered childcare so that work is possible. Many users of tax credits are single parents but many are also in couples. They are for people for whom work would not be possible without assistance towards childcare (which by the way has to be paid one month in arrears and is subject to fines for late payment). One woman was told that her tax credits would stop because her daughter doesn't exist. The fact that said daughter was crying in the background whilst her stressed and bewildered mother was trying to sort it out whilst wondering how she was going to pay for childcare was irrelevant. Another woman was told that her tax credits would be cut to £85 a month (a contribution towards an £800 childcare bill for 2 children representing well over half of the whole family's take home pay.)This was because concentrix concluded that a previous childcare provider had not been ofsted registered and therefore this lady was in debt to them for falsely claiming help towards childcare that year. Of course the provider had been ofsted registered, we may never know what information concentrix used to reach their conclusion but our member had to shoulder the full responsibility of proving her case, all the while on reduced tax credits and even had to arrange a meeting with her employer to explain that work would not be feasible if she couldn't prove her case. The member is now vindicated but the stress she was wrongly put under was extremely serious and unnecessary. Another member was subject to a thorough investigation of her circumstances after which concentrix reached the bizarre conclusion that her total childcare costs for 2 children were £4 a week....totally validates any claim that the government and their agencies are out of touch with real life...if such a cheap provider exists I want their details! I could go on....case after case, story after story - already vulnerable people being made to feel desperate, hopeless and quite frankly criminalised. Please, if you agree with us, sign and share to say this is not OK. Perhaps there's a case to be made for people to be investigated as benefit fraud happens - but the way it is being done is unnecessarily negatively impacting people who could do without it!

Oxfordshire County Council is proposing to shut down all 44 of the County’s Children’s Centres, and halve the current Early Years budget of £16m. Instead the council will replace them with just eight Children and Family Centres, which would only be accessible to the most vulnerable by referral. Our well used and much loved centres in communities across Oxfordshire currently provide a wide range of early intervention support including parenting courses, support for postnatal depression and mental health, young parent groups, breastfeeding support, mobile libraries, maths and English classes for adults, midwife support, baby groups, health visitor drop-in clinics, Freedom programmes for victims of domestic abuse and much more. If current proposals go ahead, most of this support would either disappear entirely or only be available to families who are already in difficulties. An end to universal provision of support for families of under-fives will only increase the stigma associated with seeking out help, and may put people off using these essential services at a time when they feel vulnerable and isolated. It is a false economy to close Children’s Centres. Universal access to the early intervention services they provide has numerous economic and other long-term benefits for the health and wellbeing of parents, children and the wider community. The cuts will result in a higher workload for other health professionals (health visitors, GPs), higher future costs and an increased risk of postnatal difficulties (breastfeeding difficulties, postnatal depression) with potentially serious and long-term consequences for parents and babies. We have started a community-led campaign asking the council to reconsider these plans urgently. The children’s centres are well regarded, well established and their staff are highly experienced professionals. Many families across Oxfordshire can and do readily access support at a time when they need it most. The testimonies of families who have used the centres make it clear how much of a lifeline they are. Together, we must protect them.

Disabled Students Allowance makes University a more accessible experience and is a vital support mechanism for disabled students. These cuts will mean students will go through university without necessary support, and this could lead to higher dropout rates and lower educational attainment for these students. No additional funds have been announced to bridge the gap and the Government are out of touch in their belief that institutions will accept the new responsibilities placed upon them, leaving students unable to get the support they need in order to study. Many Plymouth University students are from widening participation backgrounds and it worries me the impact that these cuts are going to have here in Plymouth, let alone nationally. It is important that these students are able to access higher education and achieve their potential. However, these cuts will put their education in jeopardy. The UK prides itself on equal opportunities and yet these equal opportunities are being endangered in the name of austerity. The work done by previous governments to ensure access to education will have gone to waste, and students with disabilities will be at a serious disadvantage. Can we really pride ourselves on being a fair and forward thinking nation if those in need are not being given the support they require?

Herefordshire Council has proposed the closure of Leominster Public Library and Services. We, the undersigned, hereby call on Herefordshire Council to allow Leominster Public Library and Services to remain open to the public and managed by a professional librarian.

This drug is the only drug to be added for Hodgkin's Lymphoma for over 40 years. It has a proven efficacy and helps save lives of the young people affected by Hodgkin's Lymphoma who have failed primary, harsh chemotherapy. It was the only drug which got our daughter into remission after 7 years of ever-increasing toxicity. It opened the window she needed to get through a donor bone marrow transplant, and she is now well after 10 years struggling against this cancer. This blood cancer typically attacks young people, in their teens and twenties, who if saved, will go on to pay the taxes this country needs to survive!

The Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council can act to safeguard the future of UWS in Hamilton. Without this investment UWS has confirmed it may have to consider other options, including relocating away from South Lanarkshire. UWS, its students and local partners deserve clarity and certainty.

Council Tax has risen by maximum amount of 1.99% in 2015/16 and there are further planned increases for the next 3 years, why are we paying more for less? Tactical Response Vehicles replacing fully equipped Fire Engines and Mixed Crewing of whole and part-time staff will increase response times and increase the risk to the public. Full-time Fire-fighter posts are already down 10% since 2010 with a further 10% reduction if these cuts are voted through. How do you justify this when you have a massive shortfall of part-time fire-fighters which means regularly some fire engines are NOT available. The geographical layout of North Yorkshire with its 3,340 square miles, population of 1.2 million and large network of main and country roads make it difficult to protect now when North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service average between 8 and 13 fire engines unavailable daily. Further reductions will only add more pressure on a service already over-stretched and short staffed. These changes are supposed to be about the risk and the level of response, yet the severity of an incident in 2004 is no different to one in 2015. Some calls may have reduced due to the amount of Community Fire Safety work carried out daily by fire-fighters, yet premise fires and road traffic collisions have not reduced and the size of our communities and number of businesses have increased. 5 fire deaths this year already in North Yorkshire highlight the dangers still faced by the public and the fact that the risk is still just as great.

We acknowledge that Stirling's Religion programme, as the only place in Scotland where it is possible to study religion without being a part of a Christian faculty of theology, is recognised worldwide as both innovative and highly interdisciplinary, and thus impacts on multiple sectors. Yet there has been no consultation with stakeholders. This raises serious questions about the robustness of the university’s governance structure and about academic freedom. We express deep concern that students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, both existing and new , now face uncertainty about their degree programme. We therefore urge the University to halt the current proposal, consult meaningfully with staff, students and the representative union, and to reconsider completely their precipitous move to withdraw a programme of critical teaching and research that is becoming increasingly vital in world so wracked by a misunderstanding and debasement of religious thinking. For more information, please visit: http://criticalreligion.org/events/august-2015-religion-at-stirling-under-threat/

The Infant Feeding Team (IFT) Support breastfeeding families through support groups or one to one appointments in hospital and community settings. Breastfeeding facilitators are highly skilled staff and they also give guidance to formula feeding mothers who need help and give advice on infant weaning. The breastfeeding facilitators are being drastically cut in number and we are wanting to save their posts in order for families to receive crucial support. The IFT help parents to: Recognise if their baby is getting enough milk. Ensure feeding is a comfortable experience for mum and baby. Identify where more help is needed. They also address medical issues such as tongue tie to help babies to feed. Increase the social capital of mothers through facilitating group and peer support networks. Since IFT (or Mum2Mum as they were previously known) was founded, breastfeeding rates in the City have risen exponentially but we are still significantly less than the national average and more support is needed to encourage breastfeeding. So budget cuts to the service seem to be particularly inappropriate. A UNICEF study found that in addition to saving the NHS £40m a year, increasing breastfeeding rates could reduce the risk of a host of childhood diseases including gastroenteritis, bronchiolitis, ear infections as well as reducing the risk of breast cancer for the mother. Stoke On Trent Council has confirmed the benefits of breastfeeding in their own report dated June 2015, stating "Evidence shows that babies are five times more likely to be admitted to hospital with gastroenteritis and more likely to be overweight or obese in later life if not breastfed." Breastfeeding also helps to tackle infant poverty and goes some way to address health and social inequalities. With present government cuts to families support in reducing family expenditure through breastfeeding is needed. Without IFT new and existing mums will struggle and are likely to cease breastfeeding their babies which will create an increase in health and socio-economic issues for babies, mothers, families, the council and the NHS. Please Sign and share to help us Save Our Infant Feeding Team #SaveOurIFT

In 2011 the management of National Museums Scotland broke an existing ACAS agreement and arbitrarily and unilaterally imposed a two-tier wage structure upon its lowest-paid workers (principally Cleaners, Visitor Services Assistants, Housemen, Security) without consultation or negotiation with the recognised Trade Unions. Staff employed since 1st January 2011 are on reduced terms and conditions without a weekend working allowance which is paid to compensate for having to work anti-social hours. Many of this lowest paid group only get one full weekend off once every seven weeks, which has a detrimental impact on family and social life. The consequence is that low-paid workers on the same shifts, doing the same work, are being paid up to £3,000 less than their colleagues. These workers make the National Museums Scotland the top rate attraction it is, and it is only fair that they get paid properly for their hard work. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation states that those earning under £17,100 a year are being paid a Poverty Wage, and many of our members earn well below that. Senior Scottish Politicians, in opposition against Westminster, have recently been calling for recognition of weekend working payments for those who give up valuable family and social time. These payments make up a large part of low-paid workers’ take home pay. PCS totally agree with safeguarding weekend working rights, and believe that if it is good enough for other workers, then National Museums Scotland staff deserve this too. Both Museum management and the Scottish Government need to embrace the principle of recompensing weekend work and accept PCS proposals to settle this long- running dispute. We do not believe that low-paid culture workers deserve to suffer at the hands of austerity, especially when heritage and culture contribute so much to the Scottish economy. The Museum’s own figures show that it contributes £65million to the economy. PCS Members at the National Museums of Scotland have been taking part in discontinuous strike action for over 2 years. Despite repeated requests to come to a negotiated settlement with management, this has not happened.