Submit a petition

We will write to you to acknowledge your petition within 10 working days of receiving it. We will let you know what we plan to do with the petition and when you can expect to hear from us again. 

Your petition will be published on our website, except in cases where this would be inappropriate. 

Where the subject matter of the petition affects particular wards, the councillors representing those wards will be notified. 

We will write to you at each stage of the petition's consideration. If the petition needs further investigation, we will tell you the steps we plan to take. Whenever possible we will also publish correspondence relating to the petition (personal details will be removed). 

The type of response the council provides may be dependent on the number of signatories to the petition. Below is a  summary of the council's approach:

• fewer than 50 signatories: response from relevant director/service leader (treated as standard correspondence)
• 50 - 299 signatories: response from relevant lead councillor
• at least 300 signatories: referred to the Leader/ Executive for response.
• at least 500 signatories: referred for debate at a meeting of the full council
• at least 500 signatories: senior officer(s) called to provide evidence at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Our response will depend on what your petition asks and how many people have signed it. It may include one or more of the following:

• taking the action requested in the petition
• considering the petition at a meeting of the council or Executive 
• holding an inquiry into the matter
• holding a public meeting 
• holding a meeting with petitioners or the petition organiser
• undertaking research into the matter
• writing to the petition organiser setting out the council's views about the request in the petition
• referring the petition to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration

The council's Petition Scheme can be found in Section 4 of our Constitution alongside the Public Speaking Procedure Rules.