Lancaster City Council has launched a new e-petitions service which lets residents petition the council on issues of local concern, providing a simple way for people to engage with the council.
It doesn’t replace paper petitions, and e-petitions must follow the same guidelines as paper petitions, which must be signed by at least 10 people, and by people who live, work or study in the council’s area. You also have to register as a user on the Council’s web site to send in a petition.
If your petition to the Council has received 1500 signatures or more (or 200 where it relates to a local matter which affects no more than two wards), it will also be scheduled for a council debate.
Online ways to contact and complain about your local council aren’t new, or course. FixMyStreet offers an online way to report local problems like litter or broken lights, for example, and reports are routed to either the City Council (which doesn’t tend to respond in detail) or the County Council (which does).
At national level the Number 10 petition web site became something of ridicule and, currently, is under review.
• Details of the e-petitions system and more information can be found at www.lancaster.gov.uk/petitions
• Paper petitions can be sent to the Head of Governance, Town Hall, Lancaster LA1 1PJ.