Young people have more challenges and issues that arise in comparison with 10 years ago. As a result children are suffering from more serious mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. This is increasing in schools but many schools policies do not reflect the issues this presents. Some schools treat mental illness as if it can be helped or easily cured. This is not the case even after treatment the problem remains for many children. It is unfair to force children out of education if their attendance dips below an average. It is unfair to take parents to court, to threaten them with fines and imprisonment. How does this help the child and the family? It doesn't. It causes the unwell child more anxiety or depression which makes school attendance a bigger issue. Despite providing evidence, ensuring attendance is improved this is the case for many families in the UK. Schools do not view mental health in the same light as any other illness which is outdated and unhelpful. Something needs to change to improve the lives of children that struggle with these issues everyday and the way families are treat by schools. Policy in school needs to change. Attendance issues need to be treated in the same way as other health issues. Punishing children already struggling needs to stop!

This will cost local Lancashire Health Trusts £2.08mil for a nominal saving. It is important to reduce outsourcing because private providers owe a duty to their shareholders, as well as patients and may therefore seek to hide behind principles of ’commercial confidentiality’. Private providers are not subject to the Freedom of Information law in the same way that NHS organisations are

We treasure the open land to the north of Stanwell and Stanwell Moor, populated in many places by trees and bushes, which acts as a baffle and carbon sink, and reduces the amount of air pollution and ground noise crossing the short distance from the airport to reach our villages. At times, for some of us, the air can be difficult to breathe due to fumes; imagine what it would be like if Heathrow were allowed to go ahead with their plans to concrete over “Stanwell’s green lungs” in their anticipation of being given the go ahead for the third runway to the north of the airport. North-east Ashford is also affected with plans for a polluted water and sewerage site, and other loss of open land in West Bedfont. Please sign the petition and visit our Facebook Page (Stanwell's Green Lungs) @stanwellsgreenlungs to find out more, or email us on [email protected]

‘The beast from the East’ is currently in the UK, and even though this will pass, imagine if you or a loved one had to sleep outside for the night? Many have died already due to the freezing conditions, and whilst most wouldn’t like a complete stranger living in their house, large unused buildings could be a godsend to people in need. Regardless of weather conditions, all human beings should have the right to know they have somewhere indoors to rest their head. People would be able to socialise, share resources and know that they’re safe from the conditions which no human should have to endure.

This petition urges MCC to overturn the decision to allow DC/2017/00563 to go ahead and furthermore to reject the application DC/2017/00700 by DPS waste incineration. This directly affects your health and that of your family and friends. YOUR VOICE MATTERS and IT DOES COUNT. If approved Severnside air pollution WILL increase forever, with significant predictable life threatening and life changing health consequences for many, including the most vulnerable youngest members of society. Research has proven unborn babies; infants and children are most at risk from incinerator emissions. Incinerators are associated with direct causal links to all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and lung cancer, including both adult and childhood cancer. Other associated issues include: birth defects, increased respiratory issues, emotional and behavioural problems in children including autism, dyslexia, ADHD, learning difficulties, and delinquency. And, furthermore potential cell level genetic changes pose a risk to future generations. Whilst in adults: violence, dementia, depression and Parkinson’s disease are all attributable. These findings come from a wide variety of peer reviewed research and reports conducted by The World Health Organisation, British Heart Foundation, British Lung Foundation, DEFRA, Asthma UK, and many others. The latest planning application (DC2017/00700) is needed to build Chimneystacks for the operation of both the incinerator unit and storage units for the waste both pre and post incineration. The planned chimneystacks are out of keeping with surrounding local village architecture and may potentially contravene NPPF guidelines. Equally the granting of this application may contravene The Future Generations Act 2015 and this must be considered in any decision made. No one can guarantee that waste incineration is totally safe for public health. The toxic emissions and particulate pollution have to go somewhere. It is enshrined in EC and UK legislation that reducing emissions produces true health benefits, reduces the burden on healthcare, and protects against the impacts of acid air, and its effect on water including local and wide ranging ecosystems and the food chain. . Research has demonstrated that the hazards of incineration are greater than previously realised especially relating to fine and ultra fine particulates. Operating waste incinerators in urban areas results in dangerous health and environmental consequences from both construction and operation. The proposed site is adjacent to a community Greenfield site (The Cornfield project), used daily by dog walkers as well as families using the numerous picnic areas contained within it. Caldicot Castle and Country Park are within ½ mile, which is also used for food festivals and outdoor concerts exposing even more people to potential harm. In the village there is an infant/junior school whilst a newly built comprehensive lies within two miles. Furthermore there is already one housing development locally of 212 houses and a proposed development of 285 houses and dementia care facility to be built virtually opposite this facility. Residents of Severnside have the human right to clean air and their health protected. Transport of the Waste to the plant causes another issue, with huge diesel lorries coming and going from Bristol to the property throughout the day passing both the country park, new development and dementia care facility on the Crick Road site in Portskewett. The company will be self regulated meaning they would be responsible for reporting their own breaches. In other self-regulatory plants it has been reported there have been over 1000 breaches recorded. And whilst it is implied the emissions from the plant “Will not harm the health of residents”, what safeguards are there for more vulnerable groups, including those with asthma, COPD and youngsters whose lung development can be stunted by pollution This plant may potentially release a cocktail of particulate matter, chemicals, metals, dioxins and furans - the most toxic chemicals known to science. The major source of dioxins & furans in the environment come from burning waste! Experts have warned these are all a major cause of cancers, birth defects, breathing difficulties and heart disease. These poisons will fall over a wide area around Severnside and beyond, wherever the winds take it. We urge MCC to disallow planning for the proposed stacks and to overturn its original decision (DC/2017/00563) to allow the site to be used for incineration. Sign this petition. Save our future generations by saying no to incineration.

The fly tipping is getting worse on a weekly basis. It is also a fire hazard.

Thanks to the Government's 'Right to Buy' Policy, local government are forced to offer Social Housing at heavily discounted prices - at approximately up to 70% of value - to elderly, disabled and vulnerable residents in Independent Living Accommodation; thus reducing the housing stock in Social Housing overall. Affordable Housing is only offered at 20% of value which most cannot afford. If residents cannot get social housing, either through an association or the council, they are forced into the more expensive - ON AVERAGE 4 TIMES AS MORE - private renting. For example: In the last six months, 130 Independent Living Accommodation Sites have been lost, never to replaced, amounting to 2% of the current total Social Housing within the Stroud Area alone; an issue that is being replicated across the United Kingdom.

Colchester Green Party have been monitoring levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in a number of locations in Castle Ward. Five areas exceeded the World Health Organisation's recommended safety limit of 40 micrograms per cubic metre. These high levels of NO2 pose a serious health threat to the public, particularly residents living in the following areas: St Botolphs Street - 52.72 East Street (Ipswich Road junction) - 60.74 North Station Road - 58.02 East Street - 52.76 East Hill (Priory Street Junction) - 44.17 We therefore call upon the Colchester Borough Council to decrease the levels of pollution, starting with the implementation of our three proposals. These proposals would encourage drivers to consider alternative modes of transport (cycling and walking), deter drivers from idling, and incentivise electrification of motor vehicles.

Currently homeless people are huddled in sea front seating shelters which have broken glass in them. In the current wintry conditions this is not adequate . There are a number of beach huts on Weston sea front that are vacant and could house people much more adequately . We do not want more needless deaths to occur.

Prison leaders, from local to national, presided over an “abject failure” to provide a safe, decent and purposeful regime at HMP Liverpool, according to Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. In a report outlining jail conditions that experienced inspectors regarded as the worst they could remember, Mr Clarke said it was “hard to understand how the leadership of the prison could have allowed the situation to deteriorate to this extent.” Inspectors found squalid living conditions, with dirt, litter, rats and cockroaches, and an environment in which drugs were easily available and violence had increased. Mr Clarke added: “While much of what we found was clearly the responsibility of local prison managers, there had been a broader organisational failure. We saw clear evidence that local prison managers had sought help from regional and national management to improve conditions they knew to be unacceptable long before our arrival, but the resulting support was inadequate and had made little impact on outcomes for prisoners.” HMP Liverpool is a local category B prison serving the Merseyside area. A traditional local jail with “a very strong sense of local identity”, it held 1,115 men at the time of the unannounced inspection in September 2017. It was last inspected in May 2015. Since then, the prison had deteriorated in terms of respect and purposeful activity and these elements were poor, the lowest possible assessment, in 2017. Safety and resettlement work, the two other key inspection tests, were judged as ‘not sufficiently good.’ However, Mr Clarke said, the bare statistics “do not adequately describe the abject failure of HMP Liverpool to offer a safe, decent and purposeful environment.” He identified key issues: Violence of all kinds had increased. Over a third of prisoners felt unsafe at the time of the inspection, and 71% felt unsafe at some time. Nearly two-thirds of prisoners said it was easy or very easy to obtain drugs. Drones carrying drugs and other illicit items were a substantial problem. Staff had recovered 32 drones in the six months before the inspection, more than one a week. Half of the prisoners were locked in their cells during the working day. There were also significant failings in the leadership and management of activities and in health care. There was a backlog of some 2,000 maintenance tasks and it was clear that facilities management at the prison “was in a parlous state.” Mr Clarke added: “The inspection team was highly experienced and could not recall having seen worse living conditions than those at HMP Liverpool. “Many cells were not fit to be used and should have been decommissioned. Some had emergency call bells that were not working but were nevertheless still occupied, presenting an obvious danger to prisoners. There were hundreds of unrepaired broken windows, with jagged glass left in the frames. Many lavatories were filthy, blocked or leaking. There were infestations of cockroaches in some areas, broken furniture, graffiti, damp and dirt. “I saw piles of rubbish that had clearly been there for a long time, and in which inspectors reported seeing rats on a regular basis. I was told by a senior member of staff that it had not been cleared by prisoners employed as cleaning orderlies because it presented a health and safety risk. It was so bad that external contractors were to be brought in to deal with it. In other words, this part of the jail had become so dirty, infested and hazardous to health that it could not be cleaned.” Mr Clarke was particularly troubled by the case of one vulnerable man with complex mental health needs being held in a cell that had no furniture other than a bed. “The windows of both the cell and the toilet recess were broken, the light fitting in his toilet was broken with wires exposed, the lavatory was filthy and appeared to be blocked, his sink was leaking and the cell was dark and damp. “Extraordinarily, this man had apparently been held in this condition for some weeks…It should not have needed my personal intervention for this man to be moved from such appalling conditions.” Inspectors could see “no credible plan” to address these basic problems. Mr Clarke said: “Although there are several change projects underway at the prison, none of these will address the basic failings that were so painfully obvious at HMP Liverpool. I was particularly concerned that there did not appear to be effective leadership or sufficiently rigorous external oversight to drive the prison forward in a meaningful way. This report makes it crystal clear that leaders at all levels, both within the prison and beyond, had presided over the failure to address the concerns raised at the last inspection.” Michael Spurr, Chief Executive of Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, said: “The conditions which Inspectors found at Liverpool were unacceptable and effective measures should have been taken to deal with the issues at a much earlier stage. We are committed to fixing this, have already made changes where we can, and have today published a comprehensive action plan to address the Chief Inspector’s concerns.Following the Inspection we took immediate action to rectify the situation. A new Governor has been appointed and a strengthened management team is in place; capacity has been reduced by 172 places; over 700 prisoners now have a named Prison Officer as their ‘Key Worker’; cleanliness has been improved and the maintenance backlog has been almost halved. Liverpool has a dedicated staff who are committed to providing a safe and decent environment for prisoners. The Governor will get the support she needs to deliver the action plan and make the changes necessary to substantially improve the performance and conditions at the prison.”

Northern Ireland has the highest suicide rates in the UK but 25% less funding. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-has-highest-rate-of-suicide-in-the-uk-but-mental-health-funding-is-25-less-36418579.html In fact, in a recent study of suicide rates and reported on by the Guardian (link below) Northern Ireland has had more suicides in the 20 years since the Good Friday agreement in 1998 than in 28 years during the troubles from 1969 - 1997. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/20/northern-ireland-suicides-troubles-death-toll We the undersigned find this situation cruel and unacceptable and it has to change. Since Northern Ireland is receiving an extra £1bn in funding we demand that...... 1. The Department of Health commit to an increase of funding to mental health services of at least 10% from the £1bn extra funding for Northern Ireland secured by the DUP after the last General election. 2. The current £7m per year allocated to suicide prevention through the Public Health Agency be increased to £21m per year from the £1bn extra funding for Northern Ireland secured by the DUP after the last General election. 3. An effective, sustainable and long-term suicide prevention campaign to begin at the earliest opportunity

Last year Poole council decreased our bin collections resulting in bins covered in maggots and flies. In the height of summer many of us couldn't open windows or let our children play in the garden. We don't want to endure this again. Bournemouth and Purbeck councils have got theirs, we want PBC to give us ours.