After you submit a petition

What happens after you submit a petition, including where it will be published, discussing and presenting petitions at council meetings.

We will send an acknowledgement within 14 days of receiving a petition. 

If you have submitted an e-petition you will receive this acknowledgement by email. Otherwise it will be by post. 

This acknowledgement will outline what we plan to do with the petition.

Submitting a petition does not automatically guarantee that the subject of the petition will be acted upon.

Publishing e-petitions online

When an e-petition is created, it may take up to 5 working days before it is published online. 

See all current e-petitions

During this time, we will check the content of the e-petition’s content in line with our terms and conditions. If it’s approved, it will then be published and made available for signatures.

Discussing petitions at specific council meetings

In order for a petition to be considered at a meeting of Full Council, the Executive or one of the 3 Scrutiny Committees, the signature threshold must be reached.

To see how many signatures are required, go to before you submit a petition.

A petition must also be submitted 21 days in advance of the relevant meeting. This is to allow sufficient time for the item to be included on the agenda, which is published 7 days in advance of the meeting, and to allow us 14 days to acknowledge the petition.

Presenting petitions in person at council meetings

The petition organiser or their nominee will be invited to attend the meeting. If the petition organiser or their nominated spokesperson wishes to present the petition in person, confirmation will be given at least 10 working days before the meeting.

The presentation of a petition is limited to 3 minutes and the content should be confined to:

  • reading out or summarising the purpose of the petition
  • indicating the number and description of signatories
  • making supporting remarks relevant to the petition

Councillors may then proceed to ask questions to the petition organiser.

If you are not the petition organiser, you may still attend the meeting at which the petition is discussed, but you will not be able to speak.

Further information about council meetings and petitions is available in 'how submit a petition'. 

How to submit a petition (PDF, 453.11 KB)