Preparing for ePetitions

Prepare yourselves for a big growth in ePetitions - and join in the debate.

Online petitions (ePetitions) are set to become much more important as the digital world impacts on local governance in general and local government in particular.

The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act has petitions provisions which oblige local authorities in England and Wales to work out how to respond to both paper and electronic petitions.

The provisions set minimum entitlements that all citizens can expect but give local authorities flexibility about how they approach the duty - leaving a lot of scope for local determination.

And there are - as yet - no standards. FutureGov’s Dominic Campbell raises a host of relevant issues (too many to list here) on his blog:

ParticiTech - which specialises in the application of technologies for participation - is working on a CDF/DCLG brief with Bristol City Council, FutureGov, The Consultation Institute and Hansard among others to:

• Create and promote some interesting case studies
• Provide specific guidance on ePetitions
• Start a network of expert practitioners
• Develop a recommended data standard for the purposes of interoperability
• Create a new on line community of practice (to replace this)

A first draft has been written and, as Dominic writes, “there are still lots of unanswered questions and we’d love a wider group to now get involved and give us their views on the direction and content of the paper.”

Over to you….