Petitions - The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2000, the Local Authorities (Petitions) (England) Order 2010 and the Localism Act 2011
Meeting: 22/03/2012 - Constitution Committee (Item 56)
PDF 68 KBTo review the Council’s arrangements for dealing with petitions.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Section 46 of Chapter 10 of the Localism Act 2011 repealed the provisions governing how local authorities received and dealt with petitions and e petitions. In the light of these changes the Committee was asked to review the Council’s scheme for dealing with petitions.
The Council’s Petitions Scheme provided that if a petitioner so requested, an overview and scrutiny committee could review the steps taken or action proposed to be taken by the Council in respect of “ordinary petitions”.
The majority of petitions were ‘ordinary petitions’ and usually had a low number of signatures, generally fewer than 1,000. These were dealt with by Portfolio Holders and Heads of Service, and Local Ward Members were notified of progress.
The Council would normally attempt to resolve the petitioners’ request direct, through the relevant Portfolio Holder or Officer taking appropriate action. Where this was done, the Petitions Officer would ask the petition organiser whether he or she considered that the matter was resolved. In this regard the Council’s Petition Scheme had operated successfully.
However there was no evidence to suggest that “Petitions for Debate” and “Petitions to hold an Officer to Account” made a significant difference to the way in which the Council dealt with Petitions and therefore it was proposed that these aspects of the Scheme should be abandoned and replaced with an alternative provision.
It was further proposed that if a petition had in excess of 3,000 signatories, and a petitioner so requested, an overview and scrutiny committee could debate the matter before it was be referred to the appropriate decision-maker for determination.
Finally, it was proposed suggested that the right of a petitioner to request an overview and scrutiny committee to review the steps taken or action proposed to be taken by the Council should also be removed.
A revised Petitions Scheme was attached as an Appendix to the report.
RESOLVED
That the views of the Corporate Management Team and the Cabinet be sought on the proposed amendments to the Council’s petitions scheme and the matter be considered further in due course.