FAQ
It calls for the same action as a petition that’s already open
It doesn’t ask for a clear action from the Organisation or Council.
It’s about something the Organisation or Council is not responsible for.
That includes: something that is under the jurisdiction of State or National Governments.
It’s defamatory or libellous, or contains false statements
It refers to a case that’s active in the courts
It contains material that may be protected by an injunction or court order
It contains material that could be confidential or commercially sensitive
It could cause personal distress or loss. This includes petitions that could intrude into someone’s personal grief or shock without their consent.
It accuses an identifiable person or organisation of a crime
It names individual officials of public bodies, unless they are senior managers
It names family members of elected representatives, eg MPs, or of officials of public bodies
It asks for someone to be given an honour, or have an honour taken away.
It asks for someone to be given a job, or to lose their job. This includes petitions asking for a vote of no confidence in someone and petitions calling for someone to resign.
It contains party political material
It’s nonsense or a joke
It’s an advert, spam, or promotes a specific product or service
It’s a Freedom of Information request
It contains swearing or other offensive language
It’s offensive or extreme in its views. That includes petitions that attack, criticise or negatively focus on an individual or a group of people because of characteristics such as their age, disability, ethnic origin, gender identity, medical condition, nationality, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation
- defamatory, libellous or illegal in another way;
- about a case that is active in the UK courts or about something that a court has issued an injunction over;
- offensive or extreme;
- confidential or likely to cause personal distress. That includes petitions that could intrude into someone’s personal grief or shock without their consent; or
- a joke, an advert or nonsense.
What criteria does my petition have to abide by?
We’ll have to reject your petition if:
What information about my petition get published?
We publish the text of petitions that we reject, as long as they’re not:
When will my petition be debated?
Petitions which reach 10,000 signatures will be debated by Council and further community engagement activities may be initiated. Debates are at the discretion of the organisation and petition committee and will consider whether there are other public debates currently underway on a similar topic prior to initiating a debate.
Your petition may be recommended for debate before it reaches 10,000 signatures.
We may contact you about the issue covered by your petition. For example, we sometimes invite people who create petitions to take part in a discussion to give evidence to a committee. We may also write to other people or organisations to ask them about the issue raised by your petition.