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Council Procedure Rules for Petitions

11. PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS TO THE COUNCIL, COMMITTEES AND SUB-COMMITTEES

(a) Subject to sub-paragraph (b) below all petitions will be reported to the Council, the appropriate Committee or Sub-Committee or to the Cabinet or the appropriate Cabinet Member (for details see the Executive Procedure Rules).

(b) If so requested by a signatory to a petition, it may be presented in person at meetings of the Council or a Committee or Sub-Committee subject to compliance with the following procedure:-

(i) The wording of a petition to be presented to the Council or to a Committee or Sub-Committee must be given in writing to the proper officer at least two weeks before the day of the meeting. The Mayor or the Chairman may at his discretion waive this requirement. Ward Members will be notified of the wording of petitions when received;

(ii) Only petitions containing signatures of 100 persons of voting age on the Electoral Register for the Borough will be eligible for submission to the Council or to a Committee or Sub-Committee but the Mayor or the Chairman may at his discretion waive this requirement;

(iii) Petitions must be presented to the proper officer at least one clear day before the day of the meeting of the Council, Committee or Sub-Committee to check compliance with (ii) above;

(iv) Normally no more than three petitions may be presented per meeting, but the Mayor or the Chairman may relax this restriction;

(v) Only one person may speak to a petition for a maximum of five minutes. They should be of voting age, on the Electoral Register for the Borough, have signed the petition, and be an active supporter of the body submitting the petition but not acting for the petitioner in any professional capacity for financial reward;

(vi) At the conclusion of the speech of the presenter the petition may be:

·         referred without further discussion to the next ordinary meeting of the appropriate Committee or Sub-Committee or to the Cabinet or the appropriate Cabinet Member when it will be included on the appropriate officers' report;

·         considered at the meeting in conjunction with any report that has been placed on the agenda concerning the matter raised in the petition; or

·         considered at the meeting if Members feel that a report is not necessary.

(vii)   The item relating to a petition will be placed on the agenda immediately following the minutes of the previous meeting of the Council, Committee or Sub-Committee;

(viii)   If more than one petition is notified to the proper officer to the same Council, Committee or Sub-Committee meeting, they shall rank in order of priority according to the time of notice given under (i) above;

(ix)    No petition may be presented relating to an application for a licence; (x) No petition may be presented to the Annual Meeting of the Council, the Standards Committee or the Appeals Committee.

(c) Petitions which are not to be presented in person at meetings of the Council, appropriate Committee or Sub-Committee will be reported to that body. When reporting such a petition the Officer presenting the report will ensure that the signatures on the petition are checked against the Electoral Register for the Borough and that the number of persons of voting age is recorded in the report.