Petitioning the County Council is one way in which local people can get involved in the democratic process and raise issues which are of concern in West Sussex.
We consider all reasonable petitions about matters that are relevant to the functions of the County Council and we will try to help if we are able to do so. If we can’t consider your petition or resolve the matter you are concerned about, we will explain why not.
What to consider
Before considering whether or not to raise a petition to the County Council you may want to discuss your issue with your local county councillor, who may be able to help you with it. They will explain how to make representations on a particular subject to the right person and decide whether what you want is a matter for the County Council.
For signatures to be accepted, a name and a West Sussex address (including email address if it is an e-petition) must be included. Signatories can be anyone who lives, works or studies in West Sussex.
If you live outside the county your signature will be discounted, so if you live elsewhere but work or study in West Sussex you should provide evidence that you do so.
You may wish to read the more detailed information on how the Petitions Scheme works. The full guidance on how to petition the County Council is available in the document below.
For details of our petitions scheme, please see Standing Orders, paragraphs 3.39 to 3.44 contained in Part 4, Section 1 of our constitution.
Types of petitions accepted by the Council
We accept paper petitions and e-petitions created on websites hosted by third parties. The County Council does not monitor third party petition websites. If you are setting up a petition on one of these sites it will be your responsibility to ensure that you submit the petition directly to the County Council. Most sites will allow you to download the signatory data and comments, so that you can submit it in an electronic format, such as a spreadsheet.
It is the responsibility of the lead petitioner (the person who created the petition) to submit it in a format that enables us to verify the address of each of the petition's signatories.
You can view the log of petitions submitted to the County Council in paper format and/or via external petition websites. The log contains petitions received in the last 18 months, including a brief summary of how the County Council has responded.
West Sussex County Council e-petitions
You can petition us by using our e-petitions system. You will need to register your details to set up or sign a petition on our e-petitions system.
Please be reassured that no personal details are shown on our public website.
How we deal with your petition
For petitions which attract 3,000 or more valid signatories, an offer will be made for the matter to be debated at a meeting of the full council.
Petitions under this number, but with over 500 signatures, will be considered at councillor level. Petitions with under 500 signatures will receive a response from the relevant service lead.