Protocol on Petitions

Go back to the main Constitution page.

In this section:

1. Introduction

1.1

The petitions process allows members of the public to let the council know about their concerns or to raise issues that are important to them.

1.2

The county council welcomes petitions and recognises that they are an important way of engaging with and hearing from Lancashire's residents.

Top of Page

2. What are the guidelines for submitting a petition?

2.1

Petitions can be submitted to the county council either on paper or electronically. Petitions submitted to the county council must include:

  • A clear, short statement covering the subject of the petition, including what action the petitioners wish the county council to take.
  • The name, address and signature of those supporters.

2.2

Petitions must 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, or if we require any further information.

2.3

A petition must either:

  • Relate to the county council's responsibilities;
  • Relate to a decision the county council has taken;
  • Relate to a consultation currently being run by the county council;
  • Relate to the county of Lancashire or its communities, as long as the county council is in a position to exercise some degree of influence; or
  • Request a referendum on whether the county council should change to a different form of governance.

2.4

Before submitting a petition, you should first contact your county councillor or the county council to see if the council is already acting on your concerns and to check that the council is the most appropriate body to receive your petition, as sometimes your petition may be more appropriate for another public body. You should also look at the 'Have you say' website, in case your petition is relating to a consultation that the county council is running.

Top of Page

3. How do I submit a petition?

3.1

A petition can be submitted to the county council either electronically, or in a paper format.

3.2

Electronically

Petitions can be submitted electronically through the county council's e-petition facility. An e-petition is a petition which collects signatures online.

You can create an e-petition via the county council's website by clicking the following link: http://council.lancashire.gov.uk/mgepetitionlistdisplay.aspx.

The e-petition organiser will need to provide us with their name, full postal address and email address. An e-petition may be published on the council's website for any length of time requested by the organiser, up to a maximum of six months.

When you create an e-petition, it will be reviewed to ensure that its contents are suitable before it is published on the website and made available for signature. This may take up to five working days.

If we cannot publish your petition (for example if it is vexatious, abusive or contains a statement that is not factually correct), we will contact you within five working days to explain why and we will, where possible, suggest an amended form of words that are considered acceptable. 

Please view the Petitions User Guide for instructions on how to submit an e-petition.

3.3

Paper petitions

Instead of submitting an e-petition to the county council's website to collect electronic signatures, you may prefer to conduct the petitions process yourself by collecting handwritten signatures.

Once you are ready to submit your signed petition, please send it to:

The Petitions Officer
Democratic Services
Lancashire County Council
PO Box 100
County Hall
PR1 0LD

If you would prefer to hand in your petition in person, please contact the Petitions Officer to arrange this by emailing petitions@lancashire.gov.uk.

The county council has created a template for a paper petition which you can use for collecting signatures. The templates are available to download from the county council's website.

Top of Page

4. Who can submit or sign a petition?

4.1

Anyone who lives, works or studies in the county council area of Lancashire can submit or sign a petition. All petitions sent or presented to the county council will receive an acknowledgement from the county council within five working days of receipt.

4.2

The county council reserves the right to check the authenticity of names and addresses on all petitions received.

Top of Page

5. Are there any petitions which the county council cannot accept?

5.1

There are some circumstances where petitions may not be accepted. A petition may be rejected if:

  • It applies to a planning application, or a matter where there is already an existing right of appeal or a separate complaints process. These petitions will be dealt with through existing procedures and petitioners will be informed of this.
  • It is asking the county council to do something that is not within its power to change or influence.
  • It is considered to be vexatious, abusive or otherwise inappropriate. We will explain the reasons for this in our acknowledgement of the petition.
  • It is the same or substantially the same as a petition submitted within the previous 12 months.
  • It relates to the responsibilities of one of the council's partners, including the responsibility of a district council. If this is the case, within five working days of receipt, the petition will be forwarded to that authority for them to deal with and the petition organiser will be informed of this.

5.2

If a petition is not considered acceptable, the petition organiser will be informed of the reasons why.

Top of Page

6. What will the council do when it receives my petition?

6.1

The next steps in process vary depending on whether you have requested an e-petition or if you have submitted a paper petition.

6.2

Electronically

Upon receipt of an e-petition, it will be reviewed to ensure it can be accepted (please refer to the section above for more detail). This will involve contacting the appropriate county council service to ensure that the e-petition contains no factual errors, and what you are asking is in the county council's power.

Following the review, the organiser will be informed whether the e-petition is acceptable and that it has been published to the council's website, or if it has been rejected including the reasons why it has been rejected. This will happen within five working days of receipt of the e-petition. Please note however, in the period immediately before an election or referendum we may need to deal with your petition differently and this timeframe may need to be revised.

If the e-petition is accepted, it will be published on the council's website for members of the public to view and sign. The relevant county council service, Cabinet Member, and divisional county councillor will be informed of the e-petition's publication.

An e-petition may be published on the council's website for any length of time requested by the organiser, up to a maximum of six months. Once the period for collecting online signatures has passed, the e-petition will be sent to the appropriate Cabinet Member and county council service for a written response. We aim to respond to all petitions within 28 days. The relevant divisional county councillor will also be informed.

6.3

Paper petitions

Once a paper petition has been received by the Petitions Officer, an acknowledgement email will be sent to the organiser within five working days. Please note, there may be a delay if the petition was handed directly to a county councillor or to the county council service.

Upon receipt of a paper petition, it will be reviewed to ensure it can be accepted (please refer to the section above for more detail). This will involve contacting the appropriate county council service to ensure that the petition is factually correct, and what you are asking is in the county council's power.

Following the review and if it is considered acceptable, the petition will be sent to the appropriate Cabinet Member and county council service for a written response. We aim to respond to all petitions within 28 days. The relevant divisional county councillor will also be informed.

Top of Page

7. How will the council respond to petitions?

7.1

The council's response to a petition will depend on what a petition is asking the county council to do. However, every petition will be sent to the appropriate Cabinet Member and the relevant county council service for a written response.

7.2

We aim to provide the petition organiser with a response within 28 days of receipt of the signed petition. A copy of the response will also be published to the county council's website.

7.3

The response may include information about what the county council has already done to address the concerns, what the council intends to do, or the reasons why the council cannot do what has been requested.

7.4

The county council will respond to all petitions, no matter how many signatures are received.

7.5

Where a petition is submitted in response to a public consultation being run by the council, the petition will be considered as part of that process and along with other consultation responses. The council will not necessarily respond to the petition separately via the petitions process in this circumstance.

7.6

In the period immediately before an election or referendum, we may need to deal with your petition differently. If this is the case, we will explain the reasons and discuss any revised timescales with the petition organiser.

Top of Page

8. The Local Authorities (Referendums) (Petitions) (England) Regulations 2011

8.1

These Regulations cover the holding of a referendum on whether the local authority should change to a different form of governance where at least 5% of the local government electors in the authority's area petition the authority.

8.2

In 2024/25, 5% of local government electors equates to 46,022 electors.

Top of Page

9. Is there anything else I can do to have my say?

9.1

A petition is just one of many ways you share your views with the council. Depending on the circumstances, it may be better for you to raise the issue through a different route, perhaps via your county councillor or our comments, complaints and compliments process.

9.2

If you would like to ask a direct question of a Cabinet Member, you may ask a question at one of the county council's Full Council meetings as part of Public Question Time.

Top of Page

10. Contact for further information

10.1

Before considering whether or not to raise a petition, you may want to discuss the issue by contacting Democratic Services by emailing: petitions@lancashire.gov.uk.

Top of Page

11. Using your Information

11.1

The county council will only use the information you have provided when submitting or signing a petition or e-petition for the purpose of recording your name as a petitioner on the petition.

11.2

By submitting or signing a petition or e-petition, you are agreeing that the county council can use any personal information you provide for the purposes connected with that petition.

11.3

The name and contact information of the petition organiser will not be published to the county council's webpage, or shared with anyone external to the county council.

11.4

The names and contact information of the petitioners may be shared with the petition organiser.

Top of Page

12. Data Protection

12.1

In submitting or signing a petition or e-petition, you understand that Lancashire County Council has a requirement to process your personal data.

12.2

Lancashire County Council will only ever process your personal data where it has a clear lawful basis for doing so in full compliance with data protection legislation - UK GDPR and The Data Protection Act (2018).

12.3

We will ensure the security and confidentiality of your personal data at all times.

12.4

For full details of how Lancashire County Council handles your personal data please see our privacy notice here:

https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/council/transparency/access-to-information/service-and-project-specific-privacy-notices/democratic-and-member-services/

Top of Page

Useful links

e-Petition System

Access the e-Petition system to view, submit or sign an e-Petition to the county council.

e-Petition System User Guide (PDF, 1.31MB)

View the user guide for how to submit or sign an e-Petition. 

Hard Copy Petition Cover Sheet (DOC, 46.5KB)

View the cover sheet for hard copy petitions. 

Hard Copy Petition -Signature Sheet (DOC, 61KB)

View the signature sheets for hard copy petitions. 

Go back to the main Constitution page.