E-petition changes

The request was successful.

We note the petitions system has changed since the coalition Government was replaced in 2015:

1. Please would you kindly provide us with documents relating to petition lifespan reduction from twelve months to six months.

2. Please would you kindly provide us with documents brought forward to introduce the five sponsors system. Government petitions now require sponsorship from five people before they are considered for publication.

100,000 signatures:

If 100,000 people sign a petition which has not broken any publication rules please would you kindly provide documentation to explain why it has no guarantee of being heard under the ten minute motion system. The will of 100,000 people should be heard in parliament.

Yours faithfully,

Lee Jefferson
Journalist.

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Jefferson,

 

Freedom of Information request F17-128

 

Thank you for your request for information dated 27 February 2017,
received by us on the same date, which is copied below.

 

We will endeavour to respond to your request promptly but in any case
within 20 working days i.e. on or before 28 March 2017.

 

If you have any queries about your request, please use the request number
quoted above and in the subject line of this email.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sarah Price

IRIS Support Officer
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

 

[1]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640

Click [2]here for details about Freedom of Information

in the House of Commons and to see what we publish.

 

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Jefferson,

 

 

Freedom of Information request F17-128

 

Thank you for your request for information as copied below. You asked for
information relating to changes to the petitions system since the
coalition Government was replaced in 2015, which we have sought to answer
below.

 

 1. Please would you kindly provide us with documents relating to petition
lifespan reduction from twelve months to six months.

And

 2. Please would you kindly provide us with documents brought forward to
introduce the five sponsors system. Government petitions now require
sponsorship from five people before they are considered for
publication.

 

Some information is held and published by the House of Commons.

 

On 8 May 2014, MPs debated a motion in the House of Commons on supporting
the establishment of a collaborative e-petitions system. Transcripts of
debates and statements made in the Chamber and in Committees are recorded
in the Official Report (commonly known as Hansard), and the Official
Report of that debate, is available online here:
[1]https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/20...

 

You may also wish to refer to the relevant documents below, listed as part
of this debate, which are all publicly available on the Parliament website
at
[2]http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2...

o Third Report from the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee,
Revisiting Rebuilding the House: the impact of the Wright reforms, HC
82, and the Government Response, HC 910;
o Seventh Report from the Procedure Committee, Session 2010-12, Debates
on Government e-Petitions, HC 1706, and the Government reply, Fourth
Special Report from the Procedure Committee of Session 2010-12, HC
1902;
o Sixth Report from the Procedure Committee, Session 2012-13, Debates on
Government e-Petitions in Westminster Hall, HC 1094, and the
Government reply, which is published on the Committee’s website.

 

The changes to the e-petitions system were recommended by the Procedure
Committee as part of a report, published on 4 December 2014, which is
publicly available on the parliamentary website here:

House of Commons Procedure Committee: E–petitions - a collaborative
system:
[3]https://www.parliament.uk/business/commi...

 

The proposed changes were debated and endorsed by the House of Commons on
24 February 2015 and the Official Report of that debate is available
online here:
[4]https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/20...

 

Further information on the e-petitions inquiry, including the oral and
written evidence published by the Procedure Committee, and the letter from
the then leader of the House to the Committee proposing a system whereby
petitions must receive at least five sponsors, is available here:
[5]https://www.parliament.uk/business/commi...

 

As this information set out above is reasonably accessible to you
otherwise than under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), your
request for the provision of information under FOIA is refused. In
refusing your request the House is applying the exemption set out in
section 21 (1) and (2) (a) of FOIA. This is an absolute exemption and the
public interest test does not apply.

 

 

 3. 100,000 signatures: If 100,000 people sign a petition which has not
broken any publication rules please would you kindly provide
documentation to explain why it has no guarantee of being heard under
the ten minute motion system. The will of 100,000 people should be
heard in Parliament.

 

Information relating to why an e-petition with over 100,000 signatures may
not be debated in Parliament is held and published by the House of
Commons. In addition to the Procedure Committee’s report mentioned above,
further explanation is available on the following web pages:

·         [6]https://petition.parliament.uk/help

·        
[7]http://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/si...

·        
[8]https://www.parliament.uk/business/commi...

 

As this information set out above is reasonably accessible to you
otherwise than under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), your
request for the provision of information under FOIA is refused. In
refusing your request the House is applying the exemption set out in
section 21 (1) and (2) (a) of FOIA. This is an absolute exemption and the
public interest test does not apply.

 

Your request mentioned “the ten minute motion system”, which we understand
to refer to Ten Minute Rule motions. Bills introduced under the Ten Minute
Rule are a type of Private Members' Bill introduced in the House of
Commons under Standing Order No. 23. This procedure allows a backbench MP
to make his or her case for a new Bill, in a speech lasting up to ten
minutes: if the motion is agreed to by the House, the bill is brought in
and receives a formal first reading, though there is no guarantee that it
will progress any further. These have no connection to e-petitions.

 

Further information on Private Members’ Bills, including bills introduced
under the Ten Minute Rule, can be found on the Parliament website here:
[9]http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/... .

 

 

You may, if dissatisfied with the handling of your request, complain to
the House of Commons. Alternatively, if you are dissatisfied with the
outcome of your request you may ask the House of Commons to conduct an
internal review of any decision regarding your request. Complaints or
requests for internal review should be addressed to: Information Rights
and Information Security Service, Research and Information Team, House of
Commons, London SW1A 0AA or [10][House of Commons request email]. Please ensure
that you specify the full reasons for your complaint or internal review
along with any arguments or points that you wish to make.

 

If you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner
at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF,
[11]www.ico.gov.uk.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Lauren

 

 

Lauren Puckey | IRIS Officer
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

Tel: 0207 219 4025 | Text Relay: 18001 219 4025 | Fifth Floor, 14 Tothill
St, London SW1H 9NB

 

[12]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640

Click [13]here for information about FOI in the House of Commons,

or to see what we publish.

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

show quoted sections