Spelthorne Borough Council

Providing Quality Services to the People of
Ashford, Laleham, Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell & Sunbury

Petitions Scheme

This scheme applies to all petitions submitted to the Council with 30 or more signatures. Petitions regarding a planning or licensing application, of a statutory nature, or on a matter where there is already an existing right of appeal, other procedures apply (see section 3).

Any petition that contains less than 30 signatures, or does not meet the guidelines within the scheme, will be treated by as standard correspondence and receive a reply from the relevant Head of Service.

1.	Petitions: The Council welcomes petitions and recognises that petitions are one way in which people can let us know their concerns. Petitions may be created, signed and submitted online through the Council’s e-petitions facility. The target for implementation of online petitions at Spelthorne is 1 November 2010. Paper petitions can be sent to: The Chief Executive Spelthorne Borough Council Council Offices Knowle Green Staines TW18 1XB
2.	What are the guidelines for submitting a petition? Petitions submitted to the Council must include: a clear and concise statement covering the subject of the petition. It should state what action the petitioners wish the Council to take; and the name and address and signature of any person supporting the petition. Petitions should be accompanied by contact details, including an address for the petition organiser. This is the person the Council 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 signatories to the petition to agree who should act as the petition organiser. 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. 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.
3.	What type of petitions are excluded? We will not take action on any petition which we consider to be vexatious, abusive or otherwise inappropriate and will explain the reasons for this in our acknowledgement of the petition. If the petition applies to a planning or licensing application, is a statutory petition (for example requesting a referendum on having an elected mayor), or on a matter where there is already an existing right of appeal, such as Council Tax banding and non-domestic rates, other procedures apply. Further information on all these procedures and how you can express your views is available on our website (Planning Meetings, Licensing Applications) or by contacting Committee Services. Where a petition is received on the same or similar topic as one the Council has received in the last six months it will not be treated as a new petition. The Council will acknowledge receipt of the petition within 10 working days and include details of its response to the previous petition on the topic. Where the Council is still considering a petition on the same or similar topic, the new petition will be amalgamated with the first received petition.
4.	What will the Council do when it receives my petition? An acknowledgement will be sent to the petition organiser within 10 working days of receiving the petition. It will let them know what we plan to do with the petition and when they can expect to hear from us again. It will also be published on our website, except in cases where this would be inappropriate. We will write to the petition organiser at each stage of the petition’s consideration. Whenever possible we will also publish all correspondence relating to the petition (all personal details will be removed). When you sign an e-petition you can elect to receive this information by e-mail. We will not send you anything which is not relevant to the e-petition you have signed.
5.	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 considering the petition at a meeting of the Council or Cabinet holding an inquiry into the matter undertaking research into the matter holding a public meeting holding a consultation holding a meeting with petitioners referring the petition for consideration by the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee calling a referendum writing to the petition organiser setting out our views about the request in the petition The type of response the Council provides may be dependent on the number of signatories to the petition. The table below summarises the Councils approach:

Number of signatories – single ward issue	Number of signatories – issue affecting two or more wards	Response
less than 30	less than 30	Response from Officer (treated as standard correspondence).
30 to 200	30 to 300	Referred to the Cabinet.
At least 300	At least 400	Officer(s) to be called to provide evidence at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (see section 7), where such action is requested in the petition.
At least 1000	At least 4500	Debated at a meeting of Council (see section 6).

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

Where the petition is referred to the Council, the petition organiser will be given three minutes to present the petition at the meeting and the petition will then be discussed by councillors.

In addition to these steps, the Council will consider all the specific actions it can potentially take on the issues highlighted in a petition. The table below gives some examples.

Petition subject	Appropriate steps
Request for play facilities	If your petition requests the provision of new play facilities in the local area, the Council will consider the level of demand and the location and type of existing facilities. The Council will also consider what, if any, facilities are included within the existing budgets. If it is considered that the demand warrants further facilities, the Cabinet may seek to make future provision in the budget or request additional resources to increase the programme.
Alcohol related crime and disorder	If your petition is about crime or disorder linked to alcohol consumption, the Council will, among other measures, consider the case for placing restrictions on public drinking in the area by establishing a designated Public Place Order or, as a last resort, imposing an Alcohol Disorder Zone. When an Alcohol Disorder Zone is established the licensed premises in the area where alcohol related trouble is being caused are required to contribute to the costs of extra policing in that area. The Council’s response to your petition will set out the steps we intend to take and the reasons for taking this approach.
Under-performing health services	We will work with local health partners to consider the matter raised in the petition. We may explore what role the Surrey Health Scrutiny Committee of Local Involvement Network (LINk) might have in reviewing and feeding back on the issue (each has a role in identifying local health service preferences, monitoring services and to use their powers to hold them to account).

	If your petition is about something over which the Council has no direct control (for example the local railway or hospital) we will consider making representations on behalf of the community to the relevant body. The Council works with a large number of local partners [link to list of LAA partners] and where possible will work with these partners to respond to your petition. If we are not able to do this for any reason (for example if what the petition calls for conflicts with council policy), then we will set out the reasons for this to you. You can find more information on the services for which the Council is responsible here [link]. If your petition is about something that a different council is responsible for we will give consideration to what the best method is for responding to it. This might consist of simply forwarding the petition to the other council, but could involve other steps. In any event we will always notify you of the action we have taken.
6.	Council debates: If a petition contains more than 4,500 signatures (1,000 for a single ward issue) it will automatically be referred to Council for debate unless it is a petition asking for a senior council officer to give evidence at the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee (see section 7). We will contact the petition organiser before the meeting. If the organiser wishes to present the petition at the meeting, confirmation must be given to the Acting Principal Committee Manager on 01784 446267 at least 10 working days before the meeting. 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 three minutes to present the petition at the meeting and the petition will then be discussed by councillors. The Council will decide how to respond to the petition at this meeting. They may decide to support the action the petition requests, or not, or refer the matter to the Cabinet or Overview and Scrutiny Committee for further consideration. The petition organiser will receive written confirmation of this decision.
7.	Petitions asking senior officers to provide evidence: Your petition may ask for a senior council officer to give evidence at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee 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 requests such action and contains at least 400 signatures (300 for a single ward issue), the relevant senior officer will give evidence at a public meeting of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Only Chief Officers and Deputy Chief Officers of the Council can be petitioned to give evidence. This includes the Chief Executive, the Deputy Chief Executive and the Assistant Chief Executives. You should be aware that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee may decide that it would be more appropriate for another officer to give evidence instead of any officer named in the petition – for instance if the named officer has changed jobs. The committee may also decide to call the relevant councillor to attend the meeting. Committee members will ask the questions at this meeting, but you will be able to suggest questions to the chairman of the committee by contacting the Acting Principal Committee Manager on 01784 446267 up to 10 working days before the meeting.
8.	e-petitions The Council welcomes e-petitions which are created and submitted through our website. E-petitions must follow the same guidelines as paper petitions set out above. The petition organiser will need to provide us with their name, postal address and e-mail address. You will also need to decide how long you would like your petition to be open for signatures, 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. 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 10 working 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 Committee Services. In the same way as a paper petition, you will receive an acknowledgement within 10 working days. A petition acknowledgement and response will be e-mailed 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.
9.	How do I ‘sign’ an e-petition? You can see all the e-petitions currently available for signature on our website. When you sign an e-petition you will be asked to provide your name, your postcode and a valid e-mail address. When you have submitted this information you will be sent an e-mail to the e-mail address you have provided. This e-mail will include a link which you must click on in order to confirm the e-mail 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.
10.	What can I do if I feel my petition has not been dealt with properly? If you feel that we have not dealt with your petition properly, the petition organiser has the right to request that the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee review the steps that the Council has taken in response to your petition. It is helpful to everyone and can improve the prospects for a review if the petition organiser gives a short explanation of the reasons why the Council’s response is not considered to be adequate. The Committee 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 the following meeting. Should the committee determine we have not dealt with your petition adequately, it may investigate the matter, make recommendations to the Cabinet or arrange for the matter to be considered at a meeting of the Full Council. Once the Committee has completed its review the petition organiser will be informed of the results within five working days. The results of the review will also be published on our website.

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