Chris Packham the TV presenter is part of an organisation called Wild Justice and last year they raised the issue of glyphosates being used by local authorities in public spaces. Glyphosate (also known as Roundup) is one of the most-used individual pesticides in the world. It is used as a herbicide in agriculture, in public spaces (such as parks but also in the streets) and in private spaces such as gardens. Wild Justice encouraged people to contact their council to find out about the local situation. They provided a template to allow people to submit a Freedom Of Information request. Sustainable Bramhall contacted Stockport Council and the reply is below; Stockport Council is clearly still using glyphosates: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/herbicide_use_requests_for_infor#incoming-1903081 The use of glyphosates is an issue about which many organisations have raised concerns, over time, such as Pesticides Action Network. [1] In March 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’. [2] There is a live debate about glyphosate’s environmental impacts and use in gardens. [3] Glyphosate kills plants that insects and birds depend on for food. The Soil Association reports that research indicates potential impacts in increasing crop diseases, changing the composition and functioning of soil micro-organism species and ecosystems, and recently published studies are showing a negative impact on earthworms. [4] There is also evidence that glyphosates can enter water courses and affect plant life there affecting habitats for other organisms. Recent research also suggests that glyphosate can kill honey bees by affecting their immunity to pathogens. [5] Bees are essential pollinators of plants including crops for food. Please sign our petition to ask Stockport Council to give up on glyphosates. If you still use them at home, perhaps you should give up too, but be careful of how you dispose of them. References: [1] https://www.pan-uk.org/pesticide-free/ [2] https://www.iarc.who.int/featured-news/media-centre-iarc-news-glyphosate/ [3] https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/glyphosate-debate [4] https://www.soilassociation.org/media/7202/glyphosate-and-soil-health-full-report.pdf [5] https://e360.yale.edu/features/bee-alert-is-a-controversial-herbicide-harming-honeybees For more information about the Wild Justice Campaign see here: https://wildjustice.org.uk/glyphosate/glyphosate-use-by-local-authorities/

According to the Young Women's Trust, 40% of HR managers have said they do not advertise salary details with job adverts. Often this means that salary will be based on the new employee's previous salary. But this perpetuates existing gender and ethnic pay gaps. We can't really try and end gender and ethnic pay inequality without putting an end to this practice. Please help us put an end to this practice.

With a joint population of nearly 30,000 people in Rosyth, Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay and North Queensferry none of these towns has a swimming pool and the people of these towns have been crying out for a swimming pool for years. Why not use the old Invekething High School to bring much-needed facilities to the area. Having a new sports centre and leisure complex on the old high school site would help bring footfall and income to Inverkeithing after the new High School moves to Rosyth

The Department for Transport is currently deciding whether to award Avanti a new 10-year contract to continue running services on our West Coast Main Line until 2032. They are due to make a final decision by 1 April 2023. This has to be stopped. Let’s not reward failure. Let’s make our West Coast public instead. ---- References: • 20 August 2021, 'West Coast Partnership: prior information notice', Department for Transport https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/west-coast-partnership-prior-information-notice • 2 July 2020, 'National Rail Passenger Survey Spring 2020', Transport Focus https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/publication/national-rail-passenger-survey-nrps-spring-2020-main-report • 21 October 2021, 'Details of operational support payments to franchised passenger rail operators under emergency agreements and National Rail Contracts', Department for Transport https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dft-payments-to-passenger-rail-operators-under-emergency-agreements/details-of-operational-support-payments-to-franchised-passenger-rail-operators-under-emergency-agreements • 6 January 2022, 'Rail prices to rise by the largest amount in nearly a decade', Money Saving Expert https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/12/train-fares-rail-increase-march • 4 January 2022, 'Rail firms gave £38m to shareholders after being bailed out by taxpayer during Covid lockdowns', Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10366385/Rail-firms-gave-38m-shareholders-bailed-taxpayer-Covid.html

To protect and preserve a truly iconic species, to protect fragile rural economies, to restore the status of Scotland as a top global destination for visiting anglers.

This week it was revealed that the Director of the British Museum, Hartwig Fischer, is in advanced talks with BP about renewing their sponsorship deal. It’s vital that we don’t let another five years of BP sponsorship of the British Museum - or even a new ‘BP wing’ as part of its $1bn redevelopment plan - go ahead. It’s time that the British Museum picks a side on climate change, and stops sending the message to its visitors, especially young people, that fossil fuels can be a part of a liveable future. The plans to renew the sponsorship come as BP announces obscene profits, while people in the UK are being forced to choose between heating and eating, and the company admits it will continue to drill for new oil and gas for decades to come, despite the climate emergency. The trustees have a legal duty to protect the reputation of the museum. They must step in now, following in the footsteps of other major cultural institutions, and drop BP as a sponsor.

It is not currently safe for women to give birth in the UK. Our services are very under funded and under staffed. Those midwifes who remain feel burnt out, unappreciated and are underpaid. The role of midwife needs to change and be better supported if we are ever going to be able to train, recruit and retain the 2500 additional midwives that are so desperately needed.

This is important because it will: - Reduce the carbon footprint of thousands of homes, helping those most in need to pay their rising energy bills - Bring more money back to the council from the leftover energy which can be sold back to the National Grid which the council can use to fund local projects to further improve the area It's a win-win situation.

On 30th July 2020, hedgehogs were added to the Red List for British mammals and classified as vulnerable to extinction. The Dartford Hedgehog Project and wonderful hedgehog groups across the country are doing their upmost to help this species recover, by raising awareness of their needs, encouraging communities to allow access through hedgehog highways, provide shelter and suitable food - such as dry kitten food with a high meat percentage. This has had a positive impact in urban areas, however there is still a long way to go! Also, sadly, well meaning people are buying products labelled as specialist hedgehog food, but as food for wildlife is currently completely unregulated, this can lead to deadly consequences for hedgehogs. A lot of the food supposedly designed for them contains ingredients such as wheat, calci worms, meal worms, fruit, sunflower seeds, nuts or oats. Eating too much of this causes teeth issues and metabolic bone disease in hedgehogs. This is a debilitating condition that eventually leads to an agonising death. It is simply unacceptable that products that can cause such harm are currently allowed to be sold freely! We are therefore calling on the government to bring in regulations to the sale of food specifically labelled as suitable for Hedgehogs! Written by Green Party Cllr Laura Edie, On behalf of Dartford Hedgehog Project.

In April 2021, I lost my husband, Luke, to gambling-related suicide. He was given "free bets" to encourage him to gamble during a global pandemic and at a time when gambling companies had promised to look after their most vulnerable customers. Public Health England estimates there are more than 400 gambling-related suicides in England alone each year – more than one every single day. The Government pledged to review the outdated gambling laws in its 2019 manifesto. The Gambling Act Review "white paper", where the government lays out proposed new laws to solve the problem, was expected at the end of 2020 but delay after delay means it still has not been published. If the gambling laws had changed to make gambling safer sooner – to stop free bets and other inducements, to curb the relentless advertising, to ensure people don't bet more than they can afford, and many other measures – Luke and hundreds of others would be alive today. Every day the white paper is delayed is another life lost, another family, like mine, needlessly shattered. It must be published now.

Tumbling Bay is a much loved Victorian river swimming pool on a backwater of the River Thames just behind Botley Park in West Oxford. For over 150 years local children have learned to swim in the pool. The north wall is in need of repair and the site has been fenced off for several months. The Council’s current plan is to smash up the existing wall to produce a sloping bank that will erase this valuable piece of local heritage. While no longer an official bathing spot, Tumbling Bay is very much enjoyed by local residents. Hundreds of people swim there in the summer and a small number all year round. It is safer than the river as there are no boats going past. It is also part of our local history.

The Dept of Transport does not have empathy with the disabled person because they have been resisting change ever since the 1970 Act which defined a mobility scooter as a single seater. A mobility scooter should have 2 seats for many different disabilities as explained in https://www.eta.co.uk/2018/09/12/tandem-mobility-scooters/