Issue - meetings

To enable Council to consider and approve the Draft Petitions Scheme.

(a)       That the Council approves the petitions scheme for inclusion in the Constitution, subject to the following changes:

·         To insert the words ‘during the consultation period’ at the end of section 8(2) to encourage that practice and to note that petitions received after the planning consultation period will be reported in the late observations;

·         That the maximum period for collecting signatures be extended to 30 days and that decisions on the acceptance and disposal of petitions be made within 30 days of their submission;

·         That the scheme be adopted to meet the deadline and that it be subject to further review by the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee in the new Council term; and

(b)       That the Council adopts consistent criteria for petitions that are deemed acceptable.

The Chief Officer (Governance) presented a report for the Council to approve a draft scheme to fulfil its legal duty in enabling members of the public to submit online petitions.  Having been amended and endorsed by the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee, Members’ approval was sought for the scheme to be published on the Council’s website.  The report also set out proposed criteria for accepting petitions either submitted online or via local Members as part of the existing process.  The outcomes of all accepted petitions would continue to be reported to Council on an annual basis.

As Chair and Vice-Chair of the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee, Councillors Neville Phillips and Michelle Perfect moved and seconded the recommendation.

Councillor Mike Peers highlighted the importance of petitions on planning matters being submitted within the 21-day consultation period prior to the application being determined.  To clarify this, he proposed an amendment that the words ‘during the consultation period’ be inserted at the end of section 8(2).  The Chief Officer explained that the process would allow for petitions received and accepted after the consultation period to be reported as part of the ‘late observations’ considered at each Planning Committee meeting.  Whilst agreeing with this approach, Councillor Peers said that responses to planning applications should be encouraged within the statutory consultation period where possible.  This seconded by Councillor Richard Jones.

Councillor Hilary McGuill commented on the need to define the period by which petitions were collected, accepted, and responded to.  Following guidance by the Chief Officer, she proposed an amendment that the 21-day limit for collecting signatures be extended to 30 days and that a further 30-day deadline should apply to the petition being accepted and disposed of.  This was seconded by Councillor Marion Bateman.

In response to Members’ questions, it was clarified that the initiator of a petition (the promoter) must provide their name and Flintshire postcode.  On the format of petitions, the Chief Officer said that whilst a petition template could be made available online, this did not prevent individuals from creating their own.

In view of the proposed amendments, Councillor Derek Butler proposed that the scheme be referred back to the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee for further consideration and contributions.  This was seconded by Councillor Patrick Heesom.

The Chief Officer suggested that for the Council to meet legislative requirements within the deadline, the draft scheme be adopted incorporating the proposed amendments and that the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee review the document in the new Council term to establish if any further changes were required.

All three amendments were accepted by the mover and seconder of the recommendations, Councillors Neville Phillips and Michelle Perfect, and on being put the vote, were carried, and formed part of the substantive motion.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Council approves the petitions scheme for inclusion in the Constitution, subject to the following changes:

·         To insert the words ‘during the consultation period’ at the end of section 8(2) to encourage that practice and to note that petitions received after  ...  view the full minutes text for item 107