From November 21st, Brighton & Hove’s residents will be able to submit e-petitions to the Council in order to register their views and ask us to take action on matters of importance to them. This is a really exciting development which was agreed by the whole Council at our meeting last Thursday. E-petitions have proven to be a real success elsehwere in the UK – most notably at the Scottish Parliament and on the number 10 Downing Street website. I’m convinced that they will prove to be just as much of a hit here (a recent Government survey found that as a city, we are one of the most switched on in the country in relation to wanting to get involved in the democratic process).
At the moment, residents can collect names and submit petitions manually at our various committee meetings (usually with the help of your local ward councillor) but the facility to now do this online should make things a whole lot easier.
I find that petitions are a really valuable way of keeping in touch with the issues that are concerning people in the city and are a vital part of an open and transparent democratic process. I will provide details of how to access the online petitions facility nearer the time.
In the meantime, if anyone wants to feedback any comments etc. to me then please do so via this blog or by e-mail – mary.mears@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Mary Mears Blog 