Birmingham signs up to online petitions

Birmingham signs up to online petitions

Birmingham City Council is to introduce e-petitions to encourage citizens to have their say about local issues

The council plans to introduce online petitions later in May on its website , so that petitioners can add their views and upload external documents and images as supporting information. They will also be able to follow the progress of their petition through its life cycle using a timeline function.

In addition, the system will give users access to materials so they can market their petition to the public and create paper-based versions of petitions to run at the same time.

Digital Birmingham, a partnership of private, voluntary and public organisations, and Service Birmingham, a partnership between the council and Capita, have been working on the scheme in conjunction with the city council staff. It will be supported with funding from the EU, which will also pay for any amendments and upgrades needed over the next two years.

Cllr Paul Tilsley, deputy leader of Birmingham City Council, said: "The introduction of an e-petition facility promises to be major step forward for the city of Birmingham.

"It will provide an additional mechanism for people to have their say on issues, strengthening and broadening citizens' access and participation in democratic decision-making.

"As a council we are committed to embracing modern technologies and enabling citizens to make the most of the digital age. This project is clear evidence of this."

The council is following the prime minister's website in introducing online petitions. They can prove embarrassing: national road pricing was postponed after more than 1.8m people signed a petition against it, and at present, the most popular petition calls on Gordon Brown to resign.