Petition Scheme Additional Information

If a petition contains more than 1,000 signatures it will be considered for debate 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 Council will endeavour to consider the petition at its next meeting, although on some occasions this may not be possible, and consideration will then take place at the following meeting. 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 30 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.

Where the issue is one on which Cabinet* are required to make the final decision, the Council will decide whether to make recommendations to inform that decision. Details of the dates and times of these meetings can be found on the Council's website.

The petition organiser will receive written confirmation of the decision reached. This confirmation will also be published on our website.

*Cabinet is the executive decision making body of the Council. It has responsibility for implementing the agreed policies of the Council by making decisions within that framework. These policies and decisions can affect, and ultimately benefit, all areas of the Borough. The cabinet can also seek to recommend changes that it wishes the full Council to make to its existing policy framework or its budget and financial arrangements (Medium Term Financial Plan).