1. Introduction
1.1 The Council will treat something as a petition if it is identified as being a petition, or if it seems to us that it is intended to be a petition and it meets the criteria set out in the Petition Scheme.
2. Submitting Petitions
2.1 Anyone living, working or studying in the Council’s area who wishes to raise an issue or have their views heard on a Council matter can create or submit a petition. Petitions are accepted via the Council’s website, in paper form, or by a combination of these.
2.2 Electronic petitions will be accepted provided they are:
(a) Submitted using the Council’s free ePetitions facility; or
(b) Submitted as one document, containing the list of names and contact information of those supporting the petition. These petitions should be sent to: DemocraticServices365@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.
2.3 Paper petitions can be sent to:
The Petitions Officer
Cambridgeshire County Council
New Shire Hall
Alconbury Weald
PE28 4YE
2.4 A combination of an electronic petition and paper petition is acceptable provided they follow the guidelines set out in the scheme.
2.5 Once a petition has been received, it will be assigned to a Democratic Services Officer, who will be responsible for advising the petition organiser on the action to be taken by the authority within ten working days.
2.6 The petition must relate to functions for which the Council has powers or duties, or to improvements in the economic, social or environmental welfare of Cambridgeshire, to which the Council, or any of its partners, can contribute.
3. Format of Petitions
3.1 Petitions submitted to the Council must include a clear and concise statement covering the subject of the petition. It should state:
(a) What actions the petitioners wish the Council to take.
(b) The name and contact details of the petition organiser, who should be a local person*.
(c) The name (preferably in block capitals) and full address of each local person* who signs it. Where the petition is in paper form, this should include an actual signature. Where the petition is submitted in electronic form a list of the names and addresses will suffice.
* A ‘local person’ is anyone who lives, owns a business, or works in the area, or who attends a school or college in the area at the time the petition is submitted. (Business, school or college to be recorded where appropriate. Addresses not within the Council’s area will not be counted).
4. How Will the Council Respond to Petitions
4.1 The Council’s response will depend on what the petition asks for, but it will include one or more of the following:
(a) Take action as requested in the petition;
(b) Meet with petitioners;
(c) Refer the petition to Full Council or one of the Council’s committees; and/or
(d) Call a referendum.
[A referendum on constitutional change could be triggered with a petition submitted by 5% of the local government electors registered in the local authority's area.]
4.2 Petitions will not be referred to extraordinary or special meetings of Full Council, or to the first annual meeting of a new Council.
5. Speaking at Council/Committee Meetings
5.1 The petition organiser, or their nominee** will be able to speak at the meeting providing the following conditions are met:
(a) The petition must relate to the powers and duties of that committee / body;
(b) The petition must be signed by at least fifty ‘local people’ *** who have an interest in the subject of the petition - the addresses of the signatories must be included for this purpose. Petitions with fewer than fifty signatures will still be considered but there is no right to speak;
(c) The petition must be received by no later than 9.00 a.m. five working days before the meeting; and
(d) The petition must be accepted by the chair of the committee for presentation at the meeting. This is likely to be agreed unless there are exceptional circumstances.
** County councillors will not usually be allowed to speak to petitions under this procedure as they have other opportunities to make their views known. This may, however, be allowed where the councillor has a prejudicial interest preventing them from speaking to a report, or where the petition organiser or other representative of the petitioners is unable to attend the meeting. In these circumstances the chair of the meeting concerned will be consulted and asked to exercise their discretion to allow a county councillor to present the petition.
*** A ‘local person’ is anyone who lives, owns a business, or works in the area, or who attends a school or college in the area at the time the petition is submitted. (Business, school or college address to be recorded where appropriate.)
Process at the Meeting
5.2 Time for presenting a petition will be limited to three minutes. If there is an item / report on the agenda which relates to the petition, the petition organiser will usually be asked to make their presentation at the beginning of that item. Once they have spoken to the meeting, councillors may wish to ask them questions about the petition. The person presenting the petition will not be allowed to take part in the subsequent debate. If there is no relevant item on the agenda, petitions will usually be heard at the start of the meeting, but they will not usually be discussed.
5.3 Petition organisers will receive a written response from the chair of the meeting within ten working days of the meeting.
6. Petitions for Debate at Council
6.1 If a petition contains at least 3,000 signatures, the petition organiser can ask for it to be debated at a meeting of Full Council, which all councillors can attend.
6.2 The petition organiser, or nominee, will be given five minutes to present the petition at the meeting and the petition may be discussed by councillors for a maximum of up to fifteen minutes.
6.3 The Council will decide how to respond to the petition at this meeting. It may decide to take the action the petition requests, not to take the action requested for reasons put forward in the debate, or to commission further investigation into the matter, for example by the relevant committee. Where the petition organiser does not attend the meeting, they will receive written confirmation of this decision within ten working days of the meeting.
7. Exclusions
7.1 Certain petitions are not covered by this scheme and are dealt with under separate processes. These are:
(a) Petitions relating to planning applications. These are considered by the Council’s Planning Committee. You can find further details on how to make your views known to the committee on the planning pages of the Council’s website, or ask the Democratic Services Team for information.
(b) Petitions relating to traffic regulation orders. These are considered by the Assistant Director: Highways in consultation with the local members.
(c) Petitions in response to consultation on a specific issue or proposal. These should be sent to the return address as detailed in the relevant consultation document.
(d) Statutory petitions (for example requesting a referendum on having an elected mayor).
(e) A matter where there is an existing right of appeal.
7.2 The Council will not consider:
(a) Petitions that do not follow the guidelines set out in this petition scheme.
(b) Petitions that do not relate to a matter for which the local authority has a responsibility, or which affects the county and is something the Council is able to influence.
(c) Petitions disclosing matters that are personal or confidential.
(d) Petitions which are in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the relevant committee chair, to be libellous, rude, offensive, vexatious, abusive or otherwise inappropriate, or which are in breach of the Council’s statutory duties in respect of equality, diversity and inclusion.
(e) Petitions from, or submitted on behalf of a business, or person, where the main purpose of the petition is to influence a forthcoming commercial decision of the Council, or the terms and conditions of a commercial transaction.
(f) Duplicate petitions. Where more than one petition is received in time for a particular meeting, each supporting the same outcome, each petition organiser will be treated as an independent petition organiser, but only the organiser of the first petition to be received will be invited to address the relevant meeting.
(g) Repeat petitions. Petitions will not normally be considered within six months of another petition on the same matter having been considered by the Council or one of its committees.
7.3 Where any of the above applies, the Council’s petitions officer will contact the petition organiser to explain the reasons behind the decision.
8. Informal Review
8.1 If the petitioner believes the petition has not been dealt with in accordance with this scheme. The lead petitioner should seek an informal review by the Monitoring Officer, who will inform them of any decision arising from the review within ten working days.
9. General Data Protection Regulation
9.1 People signing a petition are consenting to Cambridgeshire County Council holding and processing their personal data. All personal information will be kept safe and secure for a period of four years. It is the responsibility of the petition organiser to ensure that people signing the petition are consenting to this and they are aware how Cambridgeshire County Council will be holding their personal data.
[Chapter B2 (Petition Scheme) was last amended on 11 February 2025]
A PDF version of this chapter is available to view or download on the CMIS section of the Council’s website, along with a PDF version of the full constitution.
