Petitioning is one way that individuals, community groups and organisations can participate in the democratic process, by raising issues of public concern with the Council and allowing Councillors to consider the need for change either within the City or on a wider scale.
In addition to paper petitions, we offer an online petitioning service so you can publish and collect signatures on your petition through this website. This means that the petition can be made available to a potentially much wider audience giving you the opportunity to gather names in support.
Petitions sent in to the Council can have positive outcomes that lead to change or inform debate.
For example, petitions can:
Petitions should be relevant to a matter over which We have powers or duties.
To raise a petition you should be an interested party who either lives, works or studies in the authority’s area.
People signing petitions (signatories) should live, work or study in the authority's area.
There is no particular process for starting a paper petition. Generally you and other key petitioners will gather signatures until a date you have decided in advance. You may wish to contact the Council to check if your petition’s content is acceptable to present at a Council meeting.
To produce an e-petition, you must complete this online form and submit it to the Council. You will then be contacted to check your contact details. You may also be asked to explain some of the petition’s information. The Council will then organise for the petition to be published online.
You can run an online petition at the same time as a paper petition, combining the two before submitting them to the Council. Some people prefer this option as they find it easier to have one they can hand around to friends and family.
A petition should include a brief title and a short, clear and concise statement covering the subject of the petition. It should clearly state what action the petitioner wishes the Council to take. The petition will be returned to you to explain further if it is unclear.
In order for the petition to be considered;
Paper petitions must clearly display:
E-petitions must follow the e-petitions online form and must clearly display:
The contact details of the principal petitioner are essential. For e-petitions, although the name and address of any person supporting the petition is required for checking purposes, only the name and area will be displayed.
A petition must be submitted in good faith. You must not include:
Please note that once submitted, we will endeavour to approve e-petitions within 3-5 working days. Once the petition has been accepted it will become a public document accessible via the website. Petitioners are advised to take this timeframe into account before proceeding.
You should take care not to include any information or signatures that should not be made public.
Petitions that do not follow these guidelines will not be accepted. In these cases, you will be informed in writing of the reasons why a petition cannot be accepted. If you are not satisfied with the reason for your petition being rejected the matter can be further considered by the Corporate Director of Governance.
In the six weeks before an election local authorities cannot publish any material which may support any political party or a point of view which may be associated with any political party.
As with paper petitions, the responsibility for publicising the e-petition lies with the petition organiser.
The principal petitioner should decide when he or she has collected sufficient names and submit it to the council for consideration. The Council requires a minimum of 10 signatures for the petition to become valid.
For e-petitions, the principal petitioner should set a closing date. Once that closing date has been reached, the principal petitioner should then arrange for it to be submitted as appropriate.
Principal petitioners may wish to set their petition's time limit to coincide with a particular meeting.
As soon as the closing date is reached the principal petitioner must ensure its final submission to the Council. If a petition is not submitted within 6 months of its closing date an email alert will be sent to the Lead Petition prior to the petition being archived.
Principal petitioners may wish to set their petition’s time limit so that it is finished in time for a particular Council meeting (e.g. Full Council, Constituency/Ward Committee meeting).
If you are running a paper petition along side an e-petition, both parts of the petition must be received by the Council before they can be submitted for consideration.
E-petitions will be presented on your behalf to the next available meeting of the City Council.
Paper based petitions can be presented by yourself to a Constituency or Ward Committee meeting or by a Councillor to a meeting of the Council.
The Council requires a minimum of 10 signatures for the petition to become valid.
Once the petition has been submitted to the council, it will be referred on to the appropriate service for consideration. Feedback will be publicised on the e-petitioner web site once the details are available.
Your e-petition details will be held in computer readable form to allow the principal petitioner to administer and submit the petition you have signed. Only your name and area will appear on the website. The other details you give are needed by the Council to validate your support. This is the same information required for a paper petition.
Your details will only be used by the Council and the principal petitioner for any petitions that you sign. Your details will not be used for any purposes other than e-petitions, unless you have expressly given permission otherwise.
Some documents on this website require Adobe Reader © installed before they can be viewed. If you do not have Adobe Reader © installed or are experiencing difficulties viewing PDF files, the latest version can be downloaded here.
Data protection | Disclaimer | Contact us form
©2009 Copeland Borough Council. All rights reserved.
Address: The Copeland Centre, Catherine Street, Whitehaven Cumbria CA28 7SJ
