Petitions allow local people to let the council know about their concerns.
Our petition scheme sets out how the council will deal with petitions that come within the scope of the scheme. The scheme applies to both paper and online petitions (ePetitions).
ePetitions allows you to create, or sign, a petition online and must be done through our website.
Anyone who lives, works or studies in Salford can organise or sign a petition and trigger a response.
In general, a petition should include a brief title and a short statement covering the subject matter of the petition. An example petition form can be downloaded below, this outlines the information required, but is intended only as a guide and does not prevent you from using your own forms.
The statement should be clear about what action the petitioners wish the council to take. The petition will be returned to the petitioner for further clarification should this not be clear.
In order to be considered, it helps if petitions clearly display the following:
Petitions will be rejected if they are vexatious, abusive, discriminatory, or if they relate to other more appropriate procedures/appeals. Should a petition be rejected, the reason will be explained to the principal petitioner. If you have any doubts about the procedure please contact the democratic services manager.
There is no maximum or minimum number of names on a petition.
However, a petition that requests that a senior council officer attends a meeting to give evidence on a particular matter requires 1,000 signatures.
Petitions containing over 3,000 names will be automatically referred to the cabinet for consideration.
Petitions need to be a topic that relates to the functions or services delivered by the council or could influence via the Local Area Agreement or partnership arrangements.
If a senior officer is requested to give evidence on a matter at a meeting, this will usually be arranged by decision making and scrutiny and members of the public will only be allowed to speak at the discretion of the chair.
Please note that during election periods, political issues will be restricted.
When you create an ePetition it may take five working days before it is published online. This is because we have to check that your petition is in accordance with our terms and conditions. If we feel we cannot publish your petition for some reason, we will contact you within this time to explain why.
You can view and sign any current ePetitions and see our response to any completed petitions.
When you sign an ePetition you will be asked for some basic personal information including a valid email address. When you have submitted this information you will be sent an email to the email address provided. This email will include a link to confirm the email address is valid. Once this step is complete your ‘signature’ will be added to the petition. People visiting the ePetition will be able to see your name but not your contact details.
The principal petitioner should decide when he or she has collected sufficient names and submit it to the council for consideration.
Petitions can be delivered to the Civic Centre reception marked for the attention of the Democratic Services Manager.
Or be posted to:
Democratic Services Manager
Legal and Governance Division
Service Reform
Salford City Council
Salford Civic Centre
Chorley Road
Swinton
Salford M27 5DA
Or sent via e-mail to decisionmakingandscrutiny@salford.gov.uk
If you are running a paper petition alongside an ePetition, both parts, must be received by the council, before they can be considered.
Alternatively the lead petitioner can ask a councillor to submit the petition on their behalf at a meeting of full council.
An acknowledgment letter (or email) will be sent to the lead petitioner by the Committee Services team, within ten working days of the receipt of the petition. This will outline what action will be taken. In the case of an ePetition, an acknowledgement email will be sent to the lead petitioner.
The petition may then be referred appropriately to a strategic director, lead member, or the Cabinet, as appropriate, for consideration.
Once the petition has to been considered, the lead petitioner will be informed of the findings, by letter, or email.
Lead petitioner - the person who initiates the petition and decides when and how it is to be submitted. The lead petitioner will be the main point of contact.
Submitted petitions - a petition that has been submitted to the council and which they are currently considering.
Committee Services team - look after the administration of the petitions process.
If you are unable to view documents of these types, our downloads page provides links to viewing software.
This page was last updated on 4 May 2021