About Petitions
Mendip , South Somerset, East Devon and Taunton Deane Councils
welcome petitions, from anyone who lives, works or studies in the
area, including under 18's, bearing 50 or more signatures.
The Councils recognise that petitions are one way in which
people can let us know their concerns. All petitions sent or
presented to the Council will receive an acknowledgement from the
Council within 10 working days of receipt.
This acknowledgement will set out what we plan to do with the
petition. We 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.
Submitting an e-Petition
An e-Petition can relate to any issue on which the Council has
powers or duties or on which it has shared delivery
responsibilities through the Local Area Agreement or other
partnership arrangement.
Go to the South West Petitions website to find
out how to submit an e-Petition and how the Council will deal with
your e-Petition.
Submitting a Paper Petitions
These can be sent to the following addresses:
Mendip District Council
Team Manager
Democratic Services
Cannards Grave Road
Shepton Mallet
Somerset
BA4 5BT
Tel: 01749 648999
E-mail: Committeee_services @mendip.gov.uk
South Somerset District Council
The Council Offices
Brympton Way
Yeovil
Somerset
BA20 2HT
Tel: 01935 462462
Fax: 01935 462188
E-mail: Angela.cox@southsomerset.gov.uk
Taunton Deane Borough Council
The Deane House
Belvedere Road
Taunton
Somerset
TA1 1HE
Tel: 01823 356356
Fax: 01823 356329
E-Mail: r.bryant@tauntondeane.gov.uk
East Devon District Council
Democratic Servcies Manager
East Devon District Council
Knowle
Sidmouth
Devon
EX10 8HL
Petitions can also be presented to a meeting of the Council.
Please follow the links below to view the calendar of meetings
View Mendip
Meetings
View South Somerset
Meetings
View
TauntonDeane
Meetings
View East Devon Meetings
If you would like to present your petition to the Council, or
would like your councillor or someone else to present it on your
behalf, please contact the relevant council using the contact
details above.
Full council debates
If a petition contains more than 1,500 signatures (8,000 for
South Somerset) it will be debated by the full Council unless
it is a petition asking for a senior Council Officer to give
evidence at a public meeting.
This means that the issue raised in the petition will be
discussed at a meeting which all councillors can attend. The
Council will endeavour to consider the petition at its next
meeting, although on some occasions this may not be possible and
consideration will then take place at the following meeting.
The petition organiser will be given five minutes to present the
petition at the meeting and the petition will then be discussed by
councillors for a maximum of 15 minutes.
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 a relevant committee.
Where the issue is one on which the Council's Cabinet are
required to make the final decision, the Council will decide
whether to make recommendations to inform that decision. The
petition organiser will receive written confirmation of this
decision. This confirmation will also be published on our
website.
Officer evidence
Your petition may ask for a senior Council Officer to give
evidence at a public meeting about something for which the Officer
is responsible as part of their job. For example, your petition may
ask a senior Council Officer to explain progress on an issue, or to
explain the advice given to elected members to enable them to make
a particular decision.
If your petition contains at least 750 signatures (4,000 for
South Somerset) , the relevant senior Officer will give evidence at
a public meeting of the Council's Scrutiny Board.
You should be aware that the Scrutiny Board may decide that it
would be more appropriate for another Officer to give evidence
instead of any Officer named in the petition - for instance if the
named Officer has changed jobs.
The Board may also decide to call the relevant councillor to
attend the meeting. Board members will ask the questions at this
meeting, but you will be able to suggest questions to the Chair of
the Scrutiny Board by contacting the relevant council up to three
working days before the meeting.
The Councils will not take action on any petition which Is
considered to be vexatious, abusive or otherwise inappropriate and
will explain the reasons for this when acknowledging the
petition.
To ensure that people know what we are doing in response to the
petitions we receive the details of all the petitions submitted to
us will be published on our website, except in cases where this
would be inappropriate.
Whenever possible we will also publish all correspondence
relating to the petition (all personal details will be
removed).
When you sign an e-petition you can elect to receive this
information by email. We will not send you anything which is not
relevant to the e-petition you have signed, unless you choose to
receive other emails from us.
Petitions FAQ
What are the guidelines for submitting a
petition?
Petitions submitted to the Council must relate to a function of
the Council and include:
- a clear and concise statement covering the subject of the
petition. It should state what action the petitioners wish the
Council to take.
- the name and address and signature of any person supporting the
petition. Petitions should be accompanied by contact details,
including an address, for the petition organiser. This is the
person we will contact to explain how we will respond to the
petition.
Petitions considered to be vexatious, abusive or otherwise
inappropriate will be rejected.
If a petition does not follow the guidelines set out above, the
Council may decide not to do anything further with it. If that is
the case, we will write to you to explain the reasons.
How many signatures does my petition need?
For Mendip and Taunton Deane, petitions containing over 1,500
signatures will be debated at a meeting of the full council.
For South Somerset petitions will require 8,000 signatures.
For Mendip and Taunton Deane, petitions containing between 750
and 1,500 signatures will require a senior officer giving evidence
at the Scrutiny Board. For South Somerset petitions will
require between 4,000 and 8,000 signatures.
For Mendip and Taunton Deane, petitions containing between 50
and 750 signatures will be considered by the relevant officer(s) in
the council. For South Somerset petitions will require
between 25 and 4,000.
What will the Council do when it receives my
petition?
An acknowledgement will be sent to the petition organiser within
10 working days of receiving the petition. It will let them know
what we plan to do with the petition and when they can expect to
hear from us again. It will also be published on our website.
If we can do what your petition asks for, the acknowledgement
may confirm that we have taken the action requested and the
petition will be closed.
If the petition has enough signatures to trigger a Council
debate, or a senior officer giving evidence, then the
acknowledgment will confirm this and tell you when and where the
meeting will take place.
If the petition needs more investigation, we will tell you the
steps we plan to take.
Will the Council always take action on a
petition?
We will not take action on any petition which we consider to be
vexatious, abusive or otherwise inappropriate and will explain the
reasons for this when acknowledging of the petition.
In the period immediately before an election or referendum
petitions may have to be dealt with differently - if this is
the case you will be notified of the reasons and the revised
timescale which will apply.
If the petition applies to a planning or licensing application,
is a statutory petition (for example requesting a referendum on
having an elected mayor), or on a matter where there is already an
existing right of appeal, such as council tax banding and
non-domestic rates, other procedures apply.
Will details of all petitions be published?
To ensure that people know what we are doing in response to the
petitions we receive, the details of all the petitions submitted to
us will be published on our website, except in cases where this
would be inappropriate.
Whenever possible we will also publish all correspondence
relating to the petition (all personal details will be
removed).
The contact details of the petition organiser will not be placed
on the website.
Will you contact me about a petition I have
signed?
When you sign an e-petition you can elect to receive this
information by email. We will not send you anything which is not
relevant to the e-petition you have signed, unless you choose to
receive other emails from us.
How will the council respond to my
petition?
The Council's response to a petition will depend on what a
petition asks for and how many people have signed it, but may
include one or more of the following:
• taking the action requested in the petition
• considering the petition at a Council meeting
• holding an inquiry into the matter
• undertaking research into the matter
• holding a public meeting
• holding a consultation
• holding a meeting with petitioners
• referring the petition for consideration by the Council's
Scrutiny Board
• calling a referendum
• writing to the petition organiser setting out our views about
the request in
the petition
What can I do if I feel my petition has not been dealt
with properly?
If you feel that we have not dealt with your petition properly,
the petition organiser has the right to request that the Council's
Scrutiny Board reviews the steps that the Council has taken in
response to your petition. It is helpful to everyone, and can
improve the prospects for a review if the petition organiser gives
a short explanation of the reasons why the Council's response is
not considered to be adequate.
The Scrutiny Board will endeavour to consider your request at
its next meeting, although on some occasions this may not be
possible and consideration will take place at the following
meeting. Should the Scrutiny Board determine we have not
dealt with your petition adequately, it may use any of its powers
to deal with the matter.
These powers include instigating an investigation, making
recommendations to the Council's Cabinet and arranging for the
matter to be considered at a meeting of the full Council.
Once the appeal has been considered the petition organiser will
be informed of the results within 5 working days. The results
of the review will also be published on our website.
Supporting an
e-Petition
To support an existing e-Petition choose an e-Petition and add
your name, address and email address.
To find out more about the issue, see the supporting
information, provided by the lead petitioner, attached to the
e-Petition.
Disclaimer
South Somerset District Council and The South West Petitions
partnership accepts no liability for the petitions on these web
pages. The views expressed in the petitions do not necessarily
reflect those of the providers.
If you have any queries about e-Petitioning or any comments or
suggestions, please email Democratic Services at
Committee_services@mendip.gov.uk