How to raise a concern with the council, what to include in a petition and how to submit it.
We welcome petitions, and recognise that they are an important way for you to let us know your concerns.
However, petitions are not necessarily the easiest way to resolve an issue or to make your views known. Before you decide to submit a petition, consider:
This guidance does not apply to statutory petitions. These are petitions made under a particular Act, for example under the Local Government Act 2000, asking for a referendum. These will be dealt with under the relevant law.
What to include in your petition
Purpose of the petition
Give a short statement to describe the purpose of your petition, including:
- that the petition is directed to Leeds City Council
- what the petition is for
- what you want the council to do
Petition organiser
Your petition must identify a petition organiser. This is the person we will contact about the petition.
We also need to be able to contact them by post, phone or email, so please include their contact details.
We won’t be able to deal with your petition if we can’t identify a petition organiser.
Signatories
People signing your petition may be of any age so long as they live, work or study in the Leeds City Council area. They should provide an address to show that this is true.
Before you send us your petition
Check if your petition is valid. We will not consider or respond to invalid petitions.
The petition will be invalid if:
- it is vexatious or abusive
- it refers to a specific planning or licensing application (unless the petition alleges systematic failure)
- there is a statutory right to appeal or review about the concern raised
- it does not relate to a function we carry out
Submitting your petition
Send your petition by post or email to whichever Council service, Councillor or officer you think is the most appropriate.
If you are not sure where to send your petition
If you are not sure who to send your petition to, please submit it by post or email to one of the following:
Post
Chief Executive
Leeds City Council
Civic Hall
Leeds
LS1 1UR
Email
How we will respond to your petition
When we receive a petition, we will send an acknowledgment to the petition organiser. We are not able to send an acknowledgement to everyone who has signed the petition.
Our response will depend on what your petition asks for, and how many people have signed it. This decision will be taken and published in accordance with our usual decision making framework.
