This petition is now closed, as its deadline has passed.
We the undersigned petition The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to Reduce the number of signatories required on a petition to 500. More details
Petition update from the council, 01 September 2020, while petition was still open
Please note that at present, petitions require 1500 signatures to be debated at a full Council meeting; petitions of a lower number of signatories are considered by the Council but in other ways, including debate at an alternative meeting such as Cabinet or by discussions between the lead petitioner and relevant officers/Lead Members.More details from petition creator
Please reduce the number of signatories required on a petition to 500. It feels like the high number of 1500 signatures required for a petition to be debated at a meeting of RBWM's full Council (a meeting of all 41 councillors) represents a barrier to democracy in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.
The requirement for 1500 signatures is often more even than the number of votes an individual councillor receives to be elected on election day.
Only well organised petition campaigns are able to get enough signatures for a debate at a full Council meeting, this impacts the poorest and smallest areas in the Unitary Authority of RBWM.
NB. (petitions of a lower number of signatories are considered by the Council in other ways, eg at an alternative meeting such as Cabinet or by discussions between the lead petitioner and relevant officers/Lead Members - but not at a full Council)