Communities and neighbourhoods

Petitions and councillor calls for action

There is a long tradition of petition writing in the UK. Signing a petition is a simple way for members of the public to call for action, and is the most popular civic activity in the Citizenship Survey. Petitions allow people to come together to call for action - for instance, for empty properties to be dealt with, for the ownership of a building to be transferred to the community, or for local spending priorities to be decided by local people.

While petitions are a popular form of civic activism, a 2007 Local Government Association survey found that less than a third of local authorities guarantee a response to petitions. Further research by Communities and Local Government highlighted that even fewer local authorities make information publicly available.

The Government published the Local Petitions and Calls for Action Consultation on 27 December 2007. The consultation sought views on how arrangements for local petitions could be strengthened and how the new system might operate. It also sought views on the implementation of the 'councillor call for action', introduced under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. HenleyCentre InsightVision's Summary of Responses and the Government Response to the consultation were published in July 2008.

The Government now proposes to use the Community Empowerment, Housing and Regeneration Bill to place a duty on local authorities to respond to all local petitions, including electronic petitions. The Government will bring the Councillor Call for Action into force by the end of 2008.

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