Petition rules

All petitions must meet our standards, they are:

  • a statement about the petition including what action the petitioners wish the council to take
  • the name and address of each person that has signed the petition
  • a signature or email address (if the petition is online) of the person who started the petition along with name, address and contact details

Signing the petition

There can only be one signature per person, including their full name and address. Each signatory must live, work or have a direct connection within Barking or Dagenham. 

Please note that we may check the names and addresses of signatories using our own records. Any names that do not match the above criteria will be removed. This may change the total number of signatories.

Petitions we can’t deal with

There are some petitions that we will not be able to accept.

They include petitions that are:

  • About decisions made by a council committee or board that acts like a court
  • Part of a formal legal or statutory process
  • Submitted by a council employee
  • Duplicate of a petition we've already received or something already discussed in a public meeting
  • About the daily running of a school
  • About issues outside the council’s control
  • Related to a council contract
  • Involved in legal action or disputes
  • About someone who may have the right to compensation or appeal
  • Considered offensive, unreasonable, or against legal or ethical rules