Petitions

Petitions can be submitted to the Council by delivering them to the Ebley Mill offices, Ebley Wharf, Stroud, GL5 4UB for the attention of the Chief Executive. Petitions cannot be submitted directly to Committee or Council meetings.

Petitions can be submitted by any person who lives, works, or studies in the Stroud District about any matter which causes concern to them and affects the district. It is the responsibility of the petitioner to ensure that it meets the requirements as set out below and the signatures provided are from people who live, work, or study in the district.

Petitions can also be submitted by email to democratic.services@stroud.gov.uk (e-petitions must include the names, postcodes, and valid email addresses of signatories in order to evidence that they live, work, or study in the district).

The number of signatures your petition has upon submission will dictate how it is responded to:

• If the petition has less than 150 signatures, it will be referred to the appropriate Strategic Director for a response to be provided to the lead petitioner, and the relevant Chair of Committee or Chair of Council will be notified.
• If the petition has more than 150 but less than 300 signatures and concerns a Council or committee matter, the petition will be referred to the Chair of the appropriate committee or the Chair of Council, who will consult the relevant Strategic Director or Head of Service and decide if a response should come from the service, or if reference to a committee or Council for debate is appropriate.
• If the petition has more than 300 but less than 1,200 signatures, the petition will be referred to the Chair of Council or Chair of the relevant Committee, and the Chief Executive or relevant Strategic Director. The petition will be automatically referred to the relevant Committee or Council meeting for debate.
• If the petition has over 1,200 signatures, it will automatically be presented to Full Council for consideration.

If the item is to be debated at a committee or Council meeting, the lead petitioner will be given 3 minutes to present the petition to the meeting. The committee or Council may debate the item for up to 10 minutes.

There are some reasons why a petition may not be considered. These are:

• It is not a matter for which the Council or Committee has a responsibility, or which does not affect the wellbeing of those who live, work or study within the district;
• It is illegal, improper, defamatory, frivolous, or offensive;
• It is substantially the same as a previous petition in the last twelve months;
• It would require the disclosure of confidential or exempt information;
• It includes the names or identifies individual service users, staff, or members of staff of partner agencies;
• It is related to confidential staffing matters;
• It is contrary to the Constitution;
• It relates to the personal affairs or conduct of Councillors;
• The Chair, Monitoring Officer, and Political Group Leaders deem the petition to be politically sensitive whilst in the period from the publication of the notice of an election to polling day.

For full guidance on submitting a petition, please see Section 3, Paragraph 25 of the Council's Constitution, which can be found here: Welcome to Modern gov