Petitions

Paper petitions are where signatures are collected on pieces of paper.

Before you submit a petition, you need to make sure it meets certain requirements – otherwise, we may not be able to respond to it.

A paper petition must:

• contain a clear and concise statement outlining the subject
• contain a statement clearly explaining what action(s) you want the Council to take, repeated at the top of each page
• be signed by at least five people who live, work or study in Derby
• include the signature, name and address of each person who has signed it
• be the original and not a photocopy
• be about something the Council is responsible for. We will tell you if it isn’t and direct you to the most relevant organisation.

Paper petitions are received by Democratic Services and can be posted or handed in. We will respond to your petition within 10 working days. In this letter we will also set out what we plan to do with your petition.

You can also hand your petition to the Mayor by appointment. Contact the Mayor’s Office to arrange this.

Electronic petitions (e-petitions) are where names are collected through a website that hosts the petition.

We recognise that more and more people are conducting their life and business through the internet. 

There are a wide variety of e-petition websites you can use, and we are happy to deal with the site that you feel most comfortable using.

An e-petition must:

• have a subject
• contain details of what action(s) you want the Council to take
• have an expiry date - we won’t accept an e-petition without this.

On the day that you register your e-petition

 You need to email us the link to its location and include:

• your contact details
• the expiry date.

Once you have done your e-petition

You must not change the title or subject as this would mislead the people who are supporting your cause and it will invalidate your e-petition.