Petitions process

Report to the Council - 9 June 2022

The process by which the Council will determine petitions is a four-stage process. 

Stage 1

Upon receipt of the petition, officers will determine if the matter relates to a specific geographical area. If so, it will be sent to the appropriate Area Community Partnership Manager for consideration. If the petition relates to the Council area as a whole, or across multiple Community Board areas, then the petition will go straight to stage 4. 

Stage 2

The Area Community Partnership Manager will consider whether the desired outcomes can be actioned immediately. If yes, this is undertaken, possibly following consideration by the appropriate Community Board.  If no, then the petition will proceed to Stage 3. 

Stage 3

The Petition is considered by the Petitions Sub-Committee.  

The options available to the Sub-Committee are: (a) request further information, in which case it would be considered at an appropriate future meeting; (b) agree fully or in part, the terms of the petition, or (c) that no further action be taken.  

The Petitions Sub-Committee may, if it so decides, hold a Hearing to consider the terms of the petition and it may invite members of the community and/or stakeholders to address the Sub-Committee. 

Should (b) “agree fully or in part, the terms of the petition”, be agreed, and there are implications which may include, but not be restricted to, budgetary or resources, the petition, together with the recommendation from the Sub-Committee, would be submitted to the appropriate Council Committee for a final decision. 

Stage 4

The appropriate Committee considers the petition and decides accordingly. 

How to submit a petition? 

You can send a copy of your petition to committees@northlan.gov.uk 

Please note that a copy of the petition may be put into the public domain and, if this is the case, any personal data included in the petition will be removed – this may include names and addresses, contact details, addresses and signatures. If you have included photographs as part of your petition, you should seek consent from any individuals who appear in these prior to sending the petition to the Council. 

What happens next? 

The sender/first named signatory of the petition will receive a confirmation of receipt from Council officers. If the petition can be dealt with at Stage 1 then the Area Community Partnership Manager will likely make contact to discuss it. If the petition requires to be submitted to the Petitions Sub-Committee and/or a committee of the council, then you will be advised of the outcome of the decision in due course. 

If the Petitions Sub-Committee decides that it wishes to invite stakeholders to present their views to councillors, then all relevant parties would receive an invite. 

Petitions submitted as part of a consultation 

Where the Council is undertaking a formal consultation, for example on a new school or a planning application, then any petitions received would form part of that consultation process – which in some cases is prescribed by legislation – and the petitions process listed above would not apply. 

Petitions objecting to a decision made by the Council 

Such petitions will, in most cases, not be considered. The Council is unable to change a decision it has made for a period of six months after the date of the decision. Therefore, consideration of a petition which seeks to overturn a Council decision (regardless of whether this has been made by the Council itself or one of its committees) would be considered as “not competent” under the Council’s Standing Orders (the document which governs how the Council makes decisions through its democratic decision making bodies).