What will the council do when it receives my petition?
An acknowledgement will be sent to the petition organiser within 10 working days of receiving the petition. It will let them know what the council plan to do with the petition and when the lead petitioner can expect to hear from us again. If the council can do what the 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 valid signatures to trigger a council debate, then the acknowledgement will confirm this and tell the lead petitioner when and where the meeting will take place.
If the petition needs more investigation, we will tell the lead petitioner the steps we plan to take. We will notify the lead petitioner of the numbers, if in the councils view, any of the signatures are considered invalid.
The council will not take action on any petition which is considered to be vexatious, abusive or otherwise inappropriate and will explain the reasons for this in our acknowledgement of the petition. The council will also not take action where the action requested has been the subject of a previous council decision where the decision has been implemented which cannot be changed.
This procedure relates to all petitions OTHER THAN those on development management matters for which there is a specific procedure within that service. Any petitions received on development management matters should be passed immediately to the Head of Planning.
Any petition received which relates to an individual or is raising an issue personal to the lead petitioner should be referred to the appropriate department to be dealt with under the Council’s complaints procedure.
Any petition received following consultation undertaken by the Licensing Unit with regard to liquor licensing matters, for example, objections to an application of a variation of a licence, should not be dealt with under this procedure but passed to the Licensing Unit for processing.
If a 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.
To ensure that people know what the council is 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).
Copies of these petitions may also be sent to local ward councillors and other councillors as appropriate.
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:
- referring the matter to the Petitions and Representations Board for matters of ward and wider community interest,
- referring matters of policy to the Executive; or
- referring a petition to full council for debate if the necessary threshold of *2,135 valid signatures is met.
In addition to these steps, the council will consider all the specific actions it can potentially take on the issues highlighted in a petition.
Once a petition has been submitted to the council no further names can be added. You should only submit the petition once you are satisfied it is finalised.
Rather than submitting a formal petition you may wish to discuss matters of local community interest or concern with your local ward councillors, with a view to resolving the matter directly.
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, the council 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 the lead petitioner of the action we have taken.
Full council debates
If a petition contains more than *2,135 valid signatures it will be debated by the full council. 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 5 minutes to present the petition at the meeting.
Councillors will then have a maximum of 15 minutes to ask questions of the lead petitioner, to seek clarification or further information and the petition will then be discussed by councillors. 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 the Executive or a relevant committee. The petition organiser will receive written confirmation of this decision. This confirmation will also be published on our website.
Once your petition has been considered the council will:
- notify the petition organiser in writing of the steps we have taken or propose to take and of the reasons for doing so
- publish this notification on our website within 5 working days of the decision being made
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 Overview and Scrutiny Board review the steps that the council has taken in response to your petition, provided the petition is valid.
The Board will consider your request as soon as practically possible following receipt.
Should the Board determine we have not dealt with your petition adequately, it may use any of its power to deal with the matter. These powers include instigating an investigation, making recommendations to the council’s Executive 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 10 working days. The results of the review will also be published on our website.
Privacy Statement
The details you give us are needed to validate your support for a petition but we will not be published on the website. This is the same information which is required for a paper petition. On the completion of an e-petition, your details will be passed on to the principal petitioner. The council may contact you in relation to any petitions you have signed, unless you have requested not to be contacted when signing the e-petition.
Footnote
*2,135 = approximately 1% of the population of Luton at the latest mid-year estimate.