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Contact Information
Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council
Tel: 024 7637 6376
Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm
One Stop Shops:
Nuneaton Town Hall
Coton Road, Nuneaton,
Warwickshire, CV11 5AA
Bedworth Area Office
High Street, Bedworth,
Warwickshire, CV12 8NF
Contact Us
Maps and Directions
Tel: 024 7637 6376
Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm
One Stop Shops:
Nuneaton Town Hall
Coton Road, Nuneaton,
Warwickshire, CV11 5AA
Bedworth Area Office
High Street, Bedworth,
Warwickshire, CV12 8NF
Contact Us
Maps and Directions
Receiving your Petition
What will the Council do when it receives your petition?
Our 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 enquiry into the matter
- holding a public meeting
- commissioning research
- holding a meeting with petitioners
- writing to the petition organiser setting out our views about the request in the petition.
- Referring the petition to an overview and scrutiny committee
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. That notification will be published on the website unless the Council considers that in all the circumstances it would be inappropriate to do so.
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.
In some cases, the Petitions Officer may be able to resolve the petitioners’ request directly, by getting the relevant Cabinet Member or officer to take appropriate action.
Unless the matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of the petition organiser, the Petitions Officer will within 10 working days of receipt of the petition provide a substantive response to the petition organiser setting out who the petition will be reported to for consideration, when and where that will take place and inviting the petition organiser to attend that meeting and to address the meeting for up to 3 minutes on the issue covered by the petition. The invitation to the petition organiser to address the meeting is in addition to any other public speaking rights at that meeting.
Whilst we are committed to dealing with petitions promptly, a petition will normally need to be received at least 10 working days before a relevant meeting if it is to be reported to that meeting. Where it is necessary to undertake a significant amount of work to collect information and advice to enable the matter to be properly considered, it may be necessary for the Petitions Officer to decide that the petition will be held over until the following meeting of the relevant body.
At the same time as responding to the petition organiser, the Petitions Officer will notify party group’s spokespersons and Ward Councillors of receipt of the petition.
Within 5 working days of receipt of a petition, the Petitions Officer will open a new public file for the petition on the authority’s petitions website, setting out the subject matter of the petition, the date of receipt and the number of petitioners. The petition organiser’s name and contact details will only be included on the website is s/he so requests.
At each stage of the consideration of the petition, within 5 working days of any decision, the Petitions Officer will ensure that the petitions website is updated to ensure that petitioners can track progress of their petition.
The process after this stage will differ for the various types of petitions:
- 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.
- If the petition applies to a planning or licensing application, a statutory petition or on a matter where there is already an existing appeal other procedures will apply.
- 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 in our acknowledgement of 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).
The role of Ward Councillors
When a petition is received which relates to a local matter (particularly affecting specific electoral wards), the Petition Officer will send a copy of the petition to each relevant Ward Councillor at the same time as acknowledging receipt of the petition to the petition organiser.
When the petition is reported to the person or body within the authority who can take a decision on the matter to which it relates, the relevant Ward Councillor will be invited to attend and to address the decision-taker for no more than 3 minutes (or 3 minutes each), immediately after the petition organiser.
