Acknowledging petitions
All petitions sent to us (Woking Borough Council) will be sent an acknowledgement within 14 days of receipt. If you have submitted an e-petition you will receive this acknowledgement by email, otherwise it will be by post. This acknowledgement will outline what we plan to do with the petition.
As outlined in our terms and conditions, please note that submitting a petition does not automatically guarantee that the subject of the petition will be acted upon.
Publishing e-petitions online
When an e-petition is created, it may take up to five working days before it is published online. During this time, we will check the content of the e-petition’s content in line with our terms and conditions. If it’s approved, it will then be published and made available for signatures.
Discussing petitions at specific council meetings
In order for a petition to be considered at a meeting of the Council, Executive or Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the signature threshold must be reached.
View number of signatures required
A petition must also be submitted 21 days in advance of the relevant meeting. This is to allow sufficient time for the item to be included on the agenda, which is published seven days in advance of the meeting, and to allow us 14 days to acknowledge the petition.
Presenting petitions in person at council meetings
The petition organiser or their nominee will be invited to attend the meeting. If the petition organiser or their nominated spokesperson wishes to present the petition in person confirmation will be given at least 10 working days before the meeting.
The presentation of a petition is limited to three minutes and the content should be confined to:
- reading out or summarising the purpose of the petition
- indicating the number and description of signatories
- making supporting remarks relevant to the petition.
Councillors may then proceed to ask questions to the petition organiser.
If you are not the petition organiser, you may still attend the meeting at which the petition is discussed, but you will not be able to speak.