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Petitions

The Council welcomes petitions and recognises that petitions are one way in which people can let us know their concerns. Anyone who lives, works or studies in Warwickshire, including under 18’s, can sign or organise a petition.


Introduction

We will treat something as a petition if it is identified as being a petition, or if it seems to us that it is intended to be a petition.

The Petition must relate to the responsibilities of the council or a matter over which we might have some influence. For example, if it relates to improvements in the economic, social or environmental well-being of Warwickshire, to which any of our partner authorities could contribute. If it relates to a matter which is within the responsibility of another public authority we will ask you if you would like us to redirect the petition to the other public authority.

The Council already has arrangements to allow members of the public to speak at some of its meetings. This scheme gives you additional rights provided the requirements are met to:

  • Present and speak in support of the petition at a meeting
  • Require the subject matter of the petition to be debated at a meeting
  • Call an officer to account before an overview and scrutiny body

We will publish the details of the petitions we accept under this scheme on our website. Whenever possible we will also publish all correspondence relating to the petition (all personal details will be removed).

If you wish to present your petition to a particular meeting you should ensure your petition is submitted 10 working days before the meeting. This is to ensure there is time to check that the petition meets our requirements and if appropriate arrange for the petition to be included on the agenda of the meeting.

'You' means the petition organiser or someone nominated by the petition organiser.

If you wish to exercise the rights under this scheme you should either:

  • Use our e-petition facility, which enables petitions to be created, signed and submitted on-line.
  • OR send the petition direct to the Democratic Services Manager.
Democratic Services Manager
democraticservices@warwickshire.gov.uk
Address: Resources, Warwickshire County Council, PO Box 9, Shire Hall, Warwick, CV34 4RR
Tel:01926 413716 01926 413716

You will receive an acknowledgement from the council within 5 working days of receipt of the petition. This acknowledgement will set out the proposed next steps and when you will hear from us again.

If you simply turn up to a meeting expecting to present a petition without sending it to the Democratic Services Manager, the meeting need not consider your petition and the petition will normally be forwarded to the Democratic Services Manager for consideration under this scheme. Where a petition has not been accepted under this scheme rights to speak (if any) at a meeting will be governed by the Council’s normal arrangements for allowing members of the public to speak at the meeting.

Dates for future meetings of council bodies - please contact the Democratic Services Manager if you require help or advice.

Arrangements for the submission of e-petitions

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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
  • Writing to you setting out our views about the request in the petition
  • Holding a meeting with petitioners
  • Holding a consultation
  • Undertaking research into the matter
  • Referring the petition for consideration at a council, cabinet or area committee meeting
  • Referring the petition for consideration by the council’s relevant overview and scrutiny body
  • Referring the petition to another local public service organisation for consideration
  • Holding an inquiry into the matter
  • Holding a public meeting
  • Calling a referendum

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What should the petition contain?

Contact details

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 the people who signed the petition to agree who should act as the petition organiser.

Relate to the responsibilities of the council

The petition must relate to the responsibilities of the council or a matter over which it might have some influence, for example if it relates to improvements in the economic, social or environmental well-being of Warwickshire to which any of our partner authorities could contribute.

  • Where a petition relates to a matter which is within the responsibility of another public authority we will ask you if you would like us to redirect the petition to the other public authority.
  • Where a petition relates to a matter over which the Council has no responsibility or influence we will return the petition to you with an explanation for that decision.

Purpose of the petition

Petitions must include a clear and concise statement explaining what the petition is about. It should state:

  • what action you wish the council to take
  • the name and address and signature of any person supporting the petition.

Signatories

A petition must have at least 20 signatories in support - see section 4 below

Exclusions

It should not be an inappropriate or excluded petition - see section 8 below

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How many people must support the petition?

Your rights to formally present a petition to a meeting, require a debate or call an officer to account depends on the type of meeting and number of people who have signed the petition – see table below for minimum number of signatories.

Type of meeting Signatures needed to present a petition Signatures needed to debate a petition
County Council 1000 5000
Area Committee 100 1200
Community Forum 20 150

The minimum number of signatories for a petition calling an officer to account at an overview and scrutiny meeting is 5000.

The date on which the petition is received by us will be the date for determining the minimum number. Only the signatures on the petition at that date will count for the purpose of these thresholds.

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Rights to present and/or require a debate

If the petition meets the requirements to present, you may:

  • formally present the petition to the appropriate meeting; and
  • speak in support of your petition for up 5 minutes at that meeting.

If the petition meets the requirements to present and require a debate:

  • you may formally present the petition to the appropriate meeting; and
  • you may speak in support of your petition for up 5 minutes at that meeting; and
  • the Chair of the meeting will allow up to a maximum of 30 minutes for the debate of the petition at the meeting. The Chair has discretion to handle the debate as he/she considers appropriate.

A petition may only be presented once under this scheme. You may nominate another person to speak on behalf of the petition.

Duplicate Petitions

Where more than one petition is received in time for a particular meeting, supporting the same outcome on a particular matter, each petition organiser will be treated as an independent petition organiser, but only the petition organiser of the first petition to be received will be invited to address the relevant meeting. The maximum time allowed for debate shall be 30 minutes.

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Debates

If a petition contains 5,000 or more signatures it will be debated at the full council (a meeting which all councillors can attend) unless it is a petition calling an officer to account see section 7 below.

Where a petition is received which triggers the requirement for a debate the relevant body will endeavour to consider the petition at its next available meeting, although on some occasions this may not be possible and consideration will then take place at the following meeting.

The relevant body will consider how best to respond to the petition at this meeting. Some possible options for next steps are set out in section 2 above.

Where the issue is one on which the council Leader or Cabinet are required to make the final decision or the decision is in the hands of another public service agency, the relevant body will decide whether to make recommendations to the appropriate decision-maker. You will receive written confirmation of this decision. This confirmation will also be published on our website.

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Calling an officer to account

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 5000 signatures, the relevant senior officer will give evidence at a public meeting of the relevant overview and scrutiny body. The senior staff that can be called to give evidence are the Chief Executive, Strategic Directors, Chief Officers and Heads of Service.

You should be aware that the overview and scrutiny body may decide that it would be more appropriate for another officer to give evidence instead of an officer named in the petition – for instance if the named officer has changed jobs. The overview and scrutiny body may also decide to call the relevant lead councillor (portfolio holder) to attend the meeting.

Petitions will be reported to the next convenient meeting of the overview and scrutiny body. You will be given reasonable notice of the meeting. The members of the overview and scrutiny body will ask the questions, but you will be able to suggest questions to the chair of the body by contacting the Democratic Services Manager up to five working days before the meeting.

If in the opinion of the Chair of the overview and scrutiny body an issue raised in a petition seeking to call an officer to account would be better considered through the attendance of relevant senior officer(s) from a Partner Authority, the Chair may request that relevant individuals be invited to give evidence to the overview and scrutiny body.

The conclusions of the overview and scrutiny body and any recommendations will be sent to the Leader of the Council, the Chief Executive of the Council, and any Chief Executive of a Partner Authority that has provided a senior officer to attend to give evidence to the body. Unless the issue raises matters of confidentiality, the council will normally publish this information on its website.

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What Petitions will not be considered?

Inappropriate petitions

Petitions which the Democratic Services Manager considers vexatious, rude, offensive, defamatory, abusive, time-wasting or are otherwise inappropriate will not be accepted, for example:

  • Petitions should relate to a local issue and or local services not the private lives, behaviour or personality of individuals whether officers or members of the Council or other public service organisations.
  • Repeat petitions –a petition will not normally be considered where they are received within six months of another petition being considered by the Council on the same matter
  • Petitions relating to matters over which the council has no responsibility or is unlikely to be able to exercise any influence.

In the period immediately before an election or referendum we may need to deal with your petition differently – if this is the case we will explain the reasons and discuss the revised timescale which will apply.

Consultation petitions

These are petitions which are received in response to an invitation by the Council on particular proposals. Consultation petitions received by the consultation deadline will be dealt with in accordance with the consultation arrangements and will be reported to the public meeting of the person or body which is taking the decision on the proposals. They will not be dealt with under this scheme.

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.

Excluded petitions

A petition is also excluded from this scheme if the petition relates to a planning or licensing application, is a statutory petition (for example requesting a referendum on having an elected mayor), or concerns any matter where there is already an existing right of appeal under other processes.

Further information about how you can express your views in relation to these types of matters is available below.

Planning and Licensing applications

Where the petition relates to a planning or licensing application to be decided by the County Council it will be presented to our Regulatory Committee at the meeting which is considering the application concerned. The Petition will be open to inspection at the meeting. You may speak for up to 3 minutes in accordance with public speaking scheme.

Petitions relating to planning or licensing applications should be sent to the address given on the notice advertising that a planning application has been made or to the Strategic Director of Environment & Economy, PO Box 43, Barrack Street, Warwick, CV34 4SX.

Planning applications

Please note the county council mainly deals with applications relating to minerals and waste management. Therefore most planning applications are dealt with by the relevant District or Borough Councils in Warwickshire. The notice publishing that an application has been made will include an address for people who wish to make comments on the proposal. This will usually identify whether it is the County or a District/Borough who is taking the decision.

Licensing applications

Please note that the County Council does not deal with applications relating to club or premises licences, sex establishments or applications under the Gambling Act, these are dealt with by the relevant District or Borough Councils in Warwickshire. Any petitions about these matters should be directed to the relevant District or Borough Council in accordance with their arrangements.

Referendum for Elected Mayor

There are particular statutory requirements relating to petitions which request a referendum on whether or not the Council should adopt different political management arrangements i.e. involving a directly elected mayor. The minimum number of signatories is 5% of the local government electorate in Warwickshire, currently 20,702 and all the signatories must be eligible to vote in Warwickshire.

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E-petitions

View, submit or sign 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 and it must meet the requirements of our scheme. 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 5 days. If you would like to present your e-petition to a meeting of the council, please contact Democratic Services Manager within five days of the petition closing. See Section 4 above for requirements for presenting a petition. If you wish to present your petition to a particular meeting you should ensure your petition is submitted 10 working days before the meeting.

A petition acknowledgement and response will be emailed to everyone who has signed the e-petition and elected to receive this information. The acknowledgment and response will also be published on this website.

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How do I sign an e-petition?

View, submit or sign an e-petition

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.

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The petitions website

The Council maintains a petitions website at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/petitions

When a petition which meets the requirements of this scheme is received by the Democratic Services Manager s/he will arrange for the petition to be published on the website. The information will include the subject matter of the petition, the date of receipt and the number of signatories. In relation to e-petitions this will also include the names of signatories.

If the petition is to be or has been reported to a public meeting that information will be included on the website.

Once decided the response of the council to the petition will also be included on the website as will any request for a review of the response and the outcome of that review. Confidential information will not be included. This should enable you to keep track of the progress of your petition.

Petitions will be kept on the website for a period of 2 years from the date of receipt.

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Informing councillors and officers

When a petition is received the relevant Cabinet member, party spokespersons and Strategic Director or Chief Officer will be sent a copy of the petition.

If a petition relates to a local matter in a particular electoral division the relevant local county councillor will also be sent a copy of the petition. If a petition is to be reported to a meeting the local county councillor will be invited to address the meeting for no more than 3 minutes immediately after you.

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Rights to request a review of the response to the petition?

You may only request a review if your petition has been accepted under this scheme.

If you feel that we have not dealt with your petition properly, you have the right to request that the relevant overview and scrutiny body reviews the steps that the council has taken in response to your petition. This request must be made by you within 20 working days of being sent the decision of the council to the petition. It is helpful to everyone, and can improve the prospects for a review if you give a short explanation of the reasons why the council’s response is not considered to be adequate.

The overview and scrutiny body will endeavour to consider your request at its next meeting, although on some occasions this may not be possible and consideration will take place at a following meeting. Should the overview and scrutiny body determine we have not dealt with your petition adequately, it may use any of its powers to deal with the matter.

These powers include starting an investigation, making recommendations to the Council or Leader or Cabinet or arranging for the matter to be considered at a meeting of the full council.

Once the request has been considered you will be informed of the results within 5 working days. The results of the review will also be published on our website.

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Scheme review

The Council may review these arrangements from time to time and make alternative arrangements.

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List of partner authorities

Any of the following covering the whole or part of Warwickshire:

  • any district council or borough council
  • a police authority
  • a chief officer of police
  • a joint waste authority
  • a waste disposal authority
  • an Integrated Transport Authority
  • an economic prosperity board
  • a combined authority
  • a Primary Care Trust
  • a development agency
  • a local probation board
  • a youth offending team

Any of the following who provide services at or from a hospital or other establishment or facility located in Warwickshire:

  • a National Health Service trust
  • an NHS foundation trust

Any of the following:

  • the Arts Council of England
  • the English Sports Council
  • the Environment Agency
  • the Health and Safety Executive
  • the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission
  • the Homes and Communities Agency
  • the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
  • Natural England