Petitions
Petitioning is one way that individuals, community groups and organisations can take part in the democratic process. If a group of residents are concerned about a council service or decision that is about to be made, they can send the council a petition. This page explains how you can do this.
For more information about e-petitions please visit our dedicated e-petitions page.
Further information about petitioning in Haringey:
- What issues can petitions relate to?
- Who can petition the council?
- What should my petition contain?
- What is the process for submitting a petition?
- What happens after the petition is submitted?
- Are there any circumstances in which my petition will not be accepted?
- How will the council respond?
- Other types of petition
- e-petitions
- Is there a way to appeal against the council's response?
What issues can petitions relate to?
Petitions should be relevant to a matter over which the council has powers or duties or which affects the well-being of the borough.
Who can petition the council?
To raise or sign a petition, you should be an interested party who lives, works or studies in Haringey. We suggest that you tell potential petition signers that their details may be placed in the public domain (published on the council's website). They should not include information about other people, including family members.
What should my petition contain?
Petitions should be accompanied by contact details including the name, postal address, email address (if available) and phone number of the petition organiser. This is the person we will contact to explain how we will respond to the petition.
A petition should include a brief title and a short, clear and concise statement covering the subject of the petition. It should clearly state what action the petitioner wishes the council to take.
The name, address and signature of any person supporting the petition should be listed. We suggest that you tell potential petition signers that their details may be placed in the public domain (published on the council's website). They should not include information about other people, including family members.
What is the process for submitting a petition?
You can either:
- Submit an e-petition - see our e-petitions page
- Email a scanned copy of a paper petition to petitions@haringey.gov.uk
- Send a paper petition to:
Democratic Services Team
George Meehan House
294 High Road
Wood Green
N22 8JZ
You can submit a petition in paper and electronic form but repeated names should be removed by the lead petitioner. Both forms should run for the same period of time and must be submitted together. When submitting a paper petition please let us know if you are running an e-petition as well, and vice-versa, so that this can be highlighted on the website and officers are able to include both details in the final count.
What happens after the petition is submitted?
Once the petition has been submitted to us it will be referred to the appropriate service for consideration.
Where contact details have been supplied, 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.
Are there any circumstances in which my petition will not be accepted?
Petitions which are considered to be vexatious, abusive or otherwise inappropriate will not be accepted and no action will be taken. We also reserve the right to reject petitions where they are substantially the same as a petition which has been submitted to the council in the past 6 months. We will explain the reasons for this in our acknowledgement of the petition. The Monitoring Officer will make the final ruling on this.
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 the revised timescale which will apply. If a petition does not follow the guidelines set out above, the council may decide not to do anything further with it. In that case, we will write to you to explain the reasons.
If the petition applies to a planning or licensing application, is a statutory petition (for example requesting a referendum on having an elected mayor), or on a matter where there is already an existing right of appeal, such as council tax banding and non-domestic rates, alternative procedures to this scheme will apply.
How will the council respond?
Our response to a petition will depend on what a petition asks for and how many people have signed it. It could, however, include a letter explaining the council's position on the matter, consideration of the issue at a meeting of the council or commissioning research.
If the petition is about something over which the council has no direct control (for example the local railway or hospital) we will consider making representations on behalf of the community to the relevant body. The council works with a large number of local partners and where possible will work with them to respond to your petition - this could include writing to them or asking an officer of a partner agency to come along to a council meeting, for example the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Other types of petition
Petitions to full council
Petitions can also be submitted to full council. For full details please go to our Petitions to full council page.
Officer Evidence
Petitions may ask for a senior council officer to give evidence at a public meeting about something which the officer is responsible for as part of their job.
If such a petition contains at least 1,100 signatures, the relevant senior officer will give evidence at a public meeting of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
e-petitions
Our e-petition system allows you to easily collect signatures via the internet, in addition to paper petitions. See more information about e-petitions.
Is there a way to appeal against the council's response?
If the petition organiser thinks that their petition has not been dealt with properly they have the right to request that the council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee review the steps that the council has taken in response to the petition.
In this situation the petition organiser should contact the council, providing a short explanation of the reasons why the council's response is not considered adequate. Officers will then discuss the issue with the petitioner and if they still want to appeal then officers will explain the process for this.
Contact us
If you have any questions regarding this process please contact:
- Democratic Services Team
George Meehan House
294 High Road
Wood Green
N22 8JZ - Email: petitions@haringey.gov.uk