Petitions

Responding to petitions

If the council can do what your petition asks for, the acknowledgement may confirm that the council have taken the action requested and the petition will be closed. If the petition has enough signatures to trigger a Full Council debate, or a senior council officer giving evidence, then the acknowledgement will confirm this and tell you when and where the meeting will take place. If the petition needs more investigation, the council will tell you the steps it plans to take.

The council’s response to a petition will depend on what a petition asks for and how many people have signed it. These responses can include:

• taking the action that is requested in the petition
• undertaking further research into the matter
• referring the petition for consideration by one of the council’s committees
• consideration in some form of public council meeting

If your petition is about something which the council has no direct control or responsibility, we will seek to direct you to the appropriate body.

Standard petition

If a petition contains 5 to 749 signatures and is validated by the Monitoring Officer, it will be directed to a senior council officer to consider and provide a response. If the petition relates to a specific ward or area the local members will be kept updated. This figure will be reduced to 499 signatures where a local petition is presented affecting no more than two wards, with all signatories living, working or studying in those wards.

Officer evidence

If a petition contains between 750 to 1,499 signatures and is validated by the Monitoring Officer, the lead petitioner may request that the relevant council officer be called to give evidence at a public meeting of the relevant Scrutiny Committee. This figure will be reduced to 500 signatures where a local petition is presented affecting no more than two wards, with all signatories living, working or studying in those wards. The Monitoring Officer will liaise with colleagues and the Chair of the relevant Scrutiny Committee to ensure that the appropriate officer attends.

The relevant Scrutiny Committee will normally endeavour to consider the petition at its next meeting. The lead petitioner (or their nominated substitute) will be given 5 minutes to present the petition to the Committee. The nominated council officer will be given 5 minutes to respond. The members on the Committee will then discuss the petition. The Committee will then decide how to respond to the petition at the meeting and may:

• request the Executive to undertake the action the petition requests, or not, for reasons put forward in the debate
• recommend that further investigation be undertaken into the matter by the Executive

The Scrutiny Committee considering the petition has no power to make decisions on actions to be undertaken by the Full Council or the Executive.

Council debates

If a petition contains 1,500 or more signatures the lead petitioner may ask that it be debated by the Full Council (unless the petition is requesting that a senior council officer give evidence at a public council meeting). This means that the issue raised in the petition will be discussed at a meeting which all members can attend. In such cases petitions must be received by the council at least ten working days before the date of the Full Council meeting.

The council will endeavour to consider the petition at its next meeting, although where this is not possible, consideration will then take place at the following meeting. The lead petitioner will be given five minutes to present the petition at the meeting and the petition will then be discussed by members for a maximum of a further fifteen 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 that the Executive is required to make the final decision, the Full Council may note the petition or make recommendations to them.

Full Council cannot make decisions where the subject matter of a petition falls to the Executive to decide.

Last updated 02 September 2026