Torbay Council is encouraging people who wish to submit petitions to ensure they follow the correct procedure to have their voice heard about subjects that matter to them.

Petitions are often used to allow communities to raise awareness and participate in local affairs. If a petition has 25 or more valid signatures it will be seen at Council and the petitioner will have the opportunity to speak on the matter. The petition will then be referred to the decision-maker for a decision.

Petitions with 1,000 or more valid signatures can be presented to Council for full debate and decision. However, for a petition to be approved it must follow Torbay Council’s Petition Scheme or it will unfortunately be refused.

Recently a number of petitions have been refused for the following reasons:
• The petition did not have accompanying signatures with full addresses (including post codes).
• The petition did not clearly stating the action it wishes the council to take.
• The petition did not have clear headings on each page to inform the signatories what they are signing.

Addresses must be clear and include the correct post code to ensure they have been signed by people who live, work or study in Torbay.

If you are thinking of submitting a petition please contact the Governance Support Team on (01803) 207087 or email governance.support@torbay.gov.uk before you start so that they can assist you and ensure your petition meets the requirements of the scheme.

To help you decide what to include please find details of petitions received by the council and the outcomes on the website at www.torbay.gov.uk/petitionsreceived.htm

The petition scheme and a template is available here: www.torbay.gov.uk/petitions.htm