Petition the council

Petitioners may freely disagree with Lichfield District Council or call for changes of policy.

We will accept and publish all petitions on this website, as long as they meet our terms and conditions.

We will not exclude critical views, and our decision to accept or reject a petition will not be made on a party political basis.

For our petitions scheme to comply with the law, the petition must not include:

• Party political material. This does not mean you can't petition on controversial issues, but do not mention political parties in your petition.
• Potentially libellous, false or defamatory statements. 
• Information that may be protected by an injunction or court order. For example, the identity of a child in a custody dispute. 
• Petitions on individual legal cases.
• The names of anyone, or any information that could identify someone, in relation to criminal accusations. 
• Material which is potentially confidential, commercially sensitive, or could cause personal distress or loss.
• Any commercial endorsement or promotion of a product, service or publication. 
• Any websites or links to a website
• The names of anyone working for a public body, unless they are part of the senior management of that organisation. 
• The names of family members of elected representatives or officials of public bodies.  
• Offensive, intemperate or provocative language. This includes swear words and insults, as well as any language that could reasonably offend someone who reads it.

We reserve the right to reject:

• Petitions that are similar to and/or overlap with an existing petition or petitions.
• Petitions that ask for things outside the remit or powers of Lichfield District Council. 
• Statements that don't request any action. We cannot accept petitions that call upon Lichfield District Council to 'recognise' or 'acknowledge' something, as they do not clearly call for an action. 
• Wording that is impossible to understand. Make sure your petition is written in clear and simple language, and do not use excessive capital letters. 
• Petitions which are intended to be humorous or do not relate to government policy. 
• Issues for which a petition is not the appropriate channel, such as a personal issue. 
• Freedom of information requests.
• Petitions about planning - find out more. 
• Statutory petitions. This includes petitioning the council to do something that would require a change in the law - such as requesting a referendum on having an elected mayor.
• Petitions relating to an issue that already has a statutory consultation or appeal process, or is already planned to be considered by cabinet.

What we do with petitions

What we will do with the petition depends on how much support it gets:

• More than 1,000 signatures will trigger a report that will be considered by cabinet. This may be discussed confidentially - depending on the subject.
• Between 50 and 1,000 signatures will trigger a review by the relevant Assistant Director and cabinet member, who will decide what response or action is needed.
• Fewer than 50 signatures will be passed to the relevant Assistant Director to be considered, but any response or action will depend on the issue.

If a petition is going to be discussed by cabinet, or at any other formal meeting, we will promote the date, time and location of the meeting on this website. We will also email the petition author to let them know this information. We may need to deal with petitions differently in the run up to an election or a referendum. If this is the case, we will explain the reasons and discuss the revised timescale with the petition author.

Petitions to other bodies

We do not publish petitions to other bodies on our website. Please contact the bodies you are petitioning if you wish them to promote your petition.

Referendum petitions

In accordance with Regulation 4(1) of the Local Authority Referendum Petitions England Regulation 2011, the number that is equal to 5% of the number of local government electors in Lichfield District, as shown in the revised register of electors having effect on the 15 February 2024 is: 4128

This figure will have effect for the purposes of determining the validity of petitions presented from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. The number equal to 5% of the local government electors for 2025 will be published within 14 days of the 15 February 2023. If this number is less than 4128, the number to be used for verification purposes in relation to any petition submitted for the period beginning on the date of publication of the lower number until 31 March 2025 shall also be that lower number.