Agenda item
Petitions Scheme (CAB 016/101)
Decision:
Resolved
1. That the duty to respond to petitions included in the Local Democracy, Economic Development & Construction Act 2009 and the consequent requirement on the Authority to agree a Petition Scheme at the next Council Meeting, to be held on 14 July 2010, be noted;
2. That the draft petition scheme set out at Appendix ‘C’ to the report (CAB 013/101), and in particular the proposed thresholds for the number of signatures required to trigger a Council meeting debate or attendance by a senior officer at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, be noted; and
3. That the comments/ suggestions made by members of the Cabinet, or other Members speaking with the consent of the Cabinet, be provided to all members of the Council prior to full Council consideration of adoption of the draft petition scheme.
Action by:
ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE – LEGAL SERVICES (I. FREEMAN)
Minutes:
Ms Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive – Legal Services, at the request of the Chair, in introducing the report:
· Summarised the key points contained therein, highlighting in particular:
· That the statutory duty on authorities to respond to petitions was effective from 15 June 2010, and each authority was required to adopt and publish a ‘petition scheme’ informing local people how to submit petitions and how the authority would respond. The draft Petition Scheme attached to the report would therefore be recommended for adoption at the meeting of the full Council, to be held on 14 July 2010.
· Provisions were now required for a petition exceeding a stated number of signatures to either trigger a debate at a meeting of the full Council or require a senior Officer to appear before the Authority’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) to give evidence and answer questions on the matters raised in the petition. Also a provision for right of review by the OSC if the petition organiser did not consider the Authority’s response to be adequate.
· The maximum signature threshold permitted was 5% of the borough population, 10,000 in Tower Hamlets, but those recommended of 2000 for a Council debate and 1500 for an Officer to appear at OSC were consistent with the Government model of 1%.
· Matters relating to verification of signatures were set out at paragraph 8.3. It was important to note that it was not now permissible to stipulate that signatories are on the Electoral Register as those under 18 must be able to participate in petitioning.
· Addressed the matters raised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, held on 6th July 2010, in relation to the report; as set out in the tabled sheet of questions and comments presented by the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee earlier in the proceedings:
A discussion followed which focused on the following points:-
· Consideration that the Petition Scheme should provide for petitions to trigger the giving of evidence to the OSC by the Lead Member within whose portfolio the issue raised by the petition fell/ and for which he/ she was accountable, rather than an appropriate Senior Officer. Although it might be helpful for the appropriate Senior Officer to also attend the meeting to respond on matters of detail. Accordingly Councillor Francis, Lead Member Housing Heritage and Planning proposed that appropriate constitutional amendments be made to effect this.
· Ms Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive – Legal Services, advised that the requirement in the Act [Local Democracy, Economic Development & Construction Act 2009] referred specifically to attendance by the relevant Chief/Senior Officer to answer questions and give evidence to the OSC. However the draft Petition Scheme appended to the report could be amended to provide for the OSC to also require the appropriate Lead Member to accompany the Chief/Senior Officer in each case.
· Councillor Jackson, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, speaking with Cabinet consent:
o Welcomed the response to the pre scrutiny question that: “There may be occasions where two or more petitions which are substantially the same are received from different organisers or parts of the borough and where although each individual petition may contain fewer signatures than the threshold, the combined total would exceed that number. In those circumstances the Cabinet might wish to recommend the inclusion of a provision enabling the officers to aggregate the petitions to trigger a debate if that is the wish of the petition organisers.” Councillor Jackson recalled a recent instance where a series of separate petitions was received from across the borough in relation to car-free zones. The Assistant Chief Executive – Legal Services confirmed that the draft Petition Scheme could be amended to allow, subject to certain safeguards, for the aggregation of substantially similar petitions to meet the threshold trigger.
o Acknowledged the underlying rationale given in relation to triggering a debate at the full Council meeting that “There must be evidence that an issue is of genuine concern to a significant number of residents in the borough before a substantial amount of full Council time is allocated to it. The proposed threshold (2000 signatures) has been set with this in mind and indeed is proportionate with that in the Government’s Model Scheme.” Councillor Jackson agreed that this would be an appropriate threshold for petition signatures aggregated from two or more petitions about the same issue.
The Chair Moved for the consideration of members of the Cabinet that:
· Recommendation 2.1, as set out in the report be agreed.
· In relation to recommendation 2.2 “the draft petition scheme attached to the report and in particular the proposed thresholds for the number of signatures required to trigger a Council meeting debate or attendance by a senior officer at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted.”
· That the comments/ suggestions made by Members be provided to all members of the Council prior to full Council consideration of adoption of the draft petition scheme.
And it was:-
Resolved
1. That the duty to respond to petitions included in the Local Democracy, Economic Development & Construction Act 2009 and the consequent requirement on the Authority to agree a Petition Scheme at the next Council Meeting, to be held on 14 July 2010, be noted;
2. That the draft petition scheme set out at Appendix ‘C’ to the report (CAB 013/101), and in particular the proposed thresholds for the number of signatures required to trigger a Council meeting debate or attendance by a senior officer at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, be noted; and
3. That the comments/ suggestions made by members of the Cabinet, or other Members speaking with the consent of the Cabinet, be provided to all members of the Council prior to full Council consideration of adoption of the draft petition scheme.
Supporting documents: