Page last updated at 09:22 GMT, Thursday, January 27 2011
Petition Questions and Answers
What are the guidelines for submitting a petition?
Petitions submitted to the council must include:
- a clear and concise statement covering the subject of the
petition;
- It should state what action the petitioners wish the council to
take;
- the name and address and signature of any person supporting the
petition;
Petitions should be accompanied by contact details, including an
address, for the petition organiser. This is the person we will
contact to explain how we will respond to the petition. The contact
details of the petition organiser will not be placed on the
website. If the petition does not identify a petition organiser, we
will contact signatories to the petition to agree who should act as
the petition organiser. Petitions which are considered to be
vexatious, abusive or otherwise inappropriate will not be accepted.
If a petition does not follow the guidelines set out above, the
council may decide not to do anything further with it. In that
case, we will write to you to explain the reasons.
What will the council do when it receives my petition?
An acknowledgement will be sent to the petition organiser within
14 days of receiving the petition. It will let them know what we
plan to do with the petition and when they can expect to hear from
us again. It will also be published on our website. If we can do
what your petition asks for, the acknowledgement may confirm that
we have taken the action requested and the petition will be closed.
If the petition has enough signatures to trigger a council debate,
or a senior officer giving evidence, then the acknowledgment will
confirm this and tell you when and where the meeting will take
place. If the petition needs more investigation, we will tell you
the steps we plan to take.
If the petition applies to a planning or licensing application,
is a statutory petition (for example requesting a referendum on
having an elected mayor), or on a matter where there is already an
existing right of appeal, such as council tax banding and
non-domestic rates, other procedures apply.
We will not take action on any petition which we consider to be
vexatious, abusive or otherwise inappropriate and will explain the
reasons for this in our acknowledgement of the petition.
To ensure that people know what we are doing in response to the
petitions we receive the details of all the petitions submitted to
us will be published on our website, except in cases where this
would be inappropriate. Whenever possible we will also publish all
correspondence relating to the petition (all personal details will
be removed).
How will the council respond to petitions?
Our response to a petition will depend on what a petition asks
for and how many people have signed it, but may include one or more
of the following:
- taking the action requested in the petition;
- considering the petition at a council meeting;
- holding an inquiry into the matter;
- undertaking research into the matter;
- holding a public meeting;
- holding a consultation;
- holding a meeting with petitioners
- referring the petition for consideration by one of the
Council’s Scrutiny Panels*
- calling a referendum
- writing to the petition organiser setting out our views about
the request in the petition
*Scrutiny Panels are committees of councillors who are
responsible for scrutinising the work of the council – in other
words, the Scrutiny Panel has the power to hold the council’s
decision makers to account.
In addition to these steps, the council will consider all the
specific actions it can potentially take on the issues highlighted
in a petition.
If your petition is about something over which the council has
no direct control (for example the local railway or hospital) we
will aim to make representations on behalf of the community to the
relevant body. The council works with a large number of local
partners and where possible will work with these partners to
respond to your petition. If we are not able to do this for any
reason (for example if what the petition calls for conflicts with
council policy), then we will set out the reasons for this to
you.
If your petition is about something that a different council is
responsible for we will give consideration to what the best method
is for responding to it. It might consist of simply forwarding the
petition to the other council, but could involve other steps. In
any event we will always notify you of the action we have
taken.
Full council debates
If a petition contains more than 5000 signatures it will be
debated by the full council unless it is a petition asking for a
senior council officer to give evidence at a public meeting.
This means that the issue raised in the petition will be
discussed at a meeting which all councillors can attend. The
petition organiser will be given five minutes to present the
petition at the meeting and the petition will then be discussed by
councillors for a maximum of 15 minutes. The council will decide
how to respond to the petition at this meeting. They may decide to
take the action the petition requests, not to take the action
requested for reasons put forward in the debate, or to commission
further investigation into the matter, for example by a relevant
committee.
The petition organiser will receive written confirmation of this
decision. This confirmation will also be published on our
website.
Officer evidence
Your petition may ask for a senior council officer to give
evidence at a public meeting about something for which the officer
is responsible as part of their job. For example, your petition may
ask a senior council officer to explain progress on an issue, or to
explain the advice given to elected members to enable them to make
a particular decision.
If your petition contains at least 750 signatures, the relevant
senior officer will give evidence at a public meeting of the
council’s Scrutiny Panels.
You should be aware that the Scrutiny Panels may decide that it
would be more appropriate for another officer to give evidence
instead of any officer named in the petition – for instance if the
named officer has changed jobs. Committee members will ask the
questions at this meeting, but you will be able to suggest
questions to the chair of the committee by contacting Democratic
Services up to three working days before the meeting.
What can I do if I feel my petition has not been dealt with
properly?
If you feel that we have not dealt with your petition properly,
the petition organiser has the right to request that the council’s
Scrutiny Panels review the steps that the council has taken in
response to your petition.
The committee will consider your request within 30 days of
receiving it. Should the committee determine we have not dealt with
your petition adequately, it may use any of its powers to deal with
the matter. These powers include instigating an investigation,
making recommendations to the Cabinet and arranging for the matter
to be considered at a meeting of the full council.
Once the appeal has been considered the petition organiser will
be informed of the results within seven days. The results of the
review will also be published on our website.
What is an E-petition?
The council welcomes e-petitions which are created and submitted
through our website. E-petitions must follow the same guidelines as
paper petitions.
The petition organiser will need to provide us with their name,
postal address and email address. You will also need to decide how
long you would like your petition to be open for signatures. Most
petitions run for six months, but you can choose a shorter or
longer timeframe, up to a maximum of 12 months.
When you create an e-petition, it may take five working days
before it is published online. This is because we have to check
that the content of your petition is suitable before it is made
available for signature. If we feel we cannot publish your petition
for some reason, we will contact you within this time to explain.
You will be able to change and resubmit your petition if you wish.
If you do not do this within 14 days, a summary of the petition and
the reason why it has not been accepted will be published under the
‘rejected petitions’ section of the website.
When an e-petition has closed for signature, it will
automatically be submitted to Democratic Services. In the same way
as a paper petition, you will receive an acknowledgement within 14
days. If you would like to present your e-petition to a meeting of
the council, please contact Democratic Services (details above)
within five days of the petition closing.
A petition acknowledgement and response will be emailed to
everyone who has signed the e-petition provided they have given a
valid email address and elected to receive this information. The
acknowledgment and response will also be published on this
website.
How do I ‘sign’ an e-petition?
You can see all the e-petitions currently available for
signature.
When you sign an e-petition you will be asked to provide your
name, your postcode and a valid email address. When you have
submitted this information you will be sent an email to the email
address you have provided. This email will include a link which you
must click on in order to confirm the email address is valid. Once
this step is complete your ‘signature’ will be added to the
petition. People visiting the e-petition will be able to see your
name in the list of those who have signed it but your contact
details will not be visible.
What is a Valid Petition for a Referendum on
an Elected Mayor?
The Local Authorities (Referendums) (Petitions and
Directions) (England) Regulations 2000
In accordance with the provisions of the above
Regulations, I hereby give notice that the number of local
government electors required for a valid petition for a referendum
as to whether Eastleigh Borough Council should have an elected
mayor is 4,751.
The above number represents 5% of the total
local government electors for the Borough of Eastleigh.
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