Surrey Lib Dems call for petition changes to give residents more say (Esher and Walton Liberal Democrats)

Esher and Walton Liberal Democrats <info@esherandwaltonlibdems.org.uk>

Surrey Lib Dems call for petition changes to give residents more say

June 11, 2010 12:00 AM

Surrey County Council's full Council meeting on 15 June 2010 is set to make decisions on the new rules for Surrey residents to present petitions and call for debates on them at meetings of full Council. These changes are necessary for the Council to comply with new government legislation. The Liberal Democrats are calling for changes to the Council's proposed new petition rules to make them less restrictive and to give Surrey residents more say about Council decisions.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Cllr Hazel Watson said: "The Conservative administration at County Hall is finally catching up with common practice in many other Councils by allowing Surrey residents to present petitions to full Council and to accept e-petitions. Previous requests by the Liberal Democrats to allow petitions to be presented to full Council, as recently as a few months ago, have been rejected as unnecessary by the Conservative administration. The difference is that the Council is now being forced by Government to make it happen."

Cllr Watson added: "We are calling for changes to the Council's new petition rules because they are extremely restrictive. The Conservative administration is suggesting that members of the public collect a massive 20,000 signatures on a petition to allow a debate in full Council and a huge 10,000 signatures to call a senior officer to give evidence at a Select Committee. The requirement for such large numbers of signatures is unrealistic and unachievable. The rules must be changed to considerably reduce the number of signatures to 2,500 for a debate in full Council and 1,000 for a senior officer to give evidence at a Select Committee. These changes are essential to give Surrey's residents a greater say about Council decisions."

Cllr Watson concluded: "The Conservative administration claims to be trying to make the Council more open and transparent but this new requirement for thousands of signatures on petitions is far from that, it is unachievable, restrictive and must be changed."

Ends