Contempt For Democracy Part 1

So, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign got to present their petition, with over 5000 signatures, to full Council. Sadly it's almost as if they needn't have bothered.

Because the petition reached the magic 5k the council was required to actually debate the petition motion. I'm not sure that this has ever happened before (I'm prepared to be corrected so do write in) so it's a significant matter to be considered.

Anyway, here's what Nottingham City Council considers to be a debate.

Firstly, an extract from the standing orders concerning petitions that require a debate due to having received the required number of signatures -

"The relevant Portfolio Holder(s) will present a provisional written response to the petition to inform discussion and to help full Council agree a response."

In this case it was the beloved Leader, so 'inform the discussion' and 'help...agree a response' is pretty much a direct instruction. An d here's the 'provisional written response' he provided -

“Nottingham City Council acknowledges receipt of the petition collated by Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which accumulated over 5000 signatures from Nottingham residents.

Nottingham City Council’s petitions scheme requires that a petition will be debated at a meeting of the City Council if it receives 5000 or more signatures from Nottingham residents and is presented to the Head of Constitutional Services at least 12 working days prior to the next Council meeting. This scheme was introduced by the City Council in June 2010 following national legislation which, at that time, required Councils to have a petitions scheme.

The City Council recognises the hard work of the Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign in gathering over 5000 signatures, which were counted and verified as representing Nottingham people.

As a local authority, Nottingham City Council has responsibility for local services and influence over many issues of local concern. From cleaning streets and caring for the vulnerable, to job creation and encouraging investment, the remit of the City Council is wide and varied. As a City Council these are our primary concerns and we should focus most of our time on these issues where we can have direct control or influence. Nonetheless, we also recognise that international issues such as this are of great concern to many local people, and it is therefore important that they receive due consideration when representations such as these are made locally.

Nottingham City Council takes seriously its responsibility to promote community cohesion. Our recent ‘Citizen Survey’ shows that 90% of those asked feel that Nottingham is a place where people of different backgrounds and opinions get on well together. The Council will continue to do all we can to maintain and improve this and are therefore happy to transparently work with the Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign to  address the concerns raised in the petition for further consideration within our local context.”

Note the complete lack of any concrete commitments there.

Oh and the debate? From the minutes -

"The petition and the written response were debated by Councillors, and the response was supported."

Words fail etc. And so does democracy.

Some Petitions...

Was going to write a bit more about these but I'm restricted for time so this'l have to do.

I mentioned before the sudden announcement of the Viccy Leisure Centre's early closure but I think I should also link to the campaign website. So I have.

They have also started a new petition against the closure which I think is worth a link of its own, so here it is.

Another local campaign also deserves more of my atention, so I hope my blogging coleague Alanadale won't mind me poaching his write up about the campaign to stop NCC encroaching on Stonebridge City Farm in order to provide more car parking.

They to have a petition against the plans and it can be found here.

Go sign. Then make all your friends sign.

Again, sorry to both campaigns about the brevity but I'm a very slow typist and I'm temporarily forced into the world of public internet access, best of luck to you both.

A Reminder...

A while back I set up a petition in the following terms -

"We believe that Nottingham City Council should publish all Freedom of Information requests it receives along with the responses on its website. We therefore call on Nottingham City Council to implement this simple act in the interests of openness and accountability."

Just a little reminder to please, please sign it here, I really do think it would be a positive step towards greater openness in local government.

Please be aware that, being a free petition site it tries to get you to donate money. It's not compulsory, the way through is to sign as requested, click 'sign', and then you get taken to a 'please donate' screen with no apparent bypass route. However, if you click the 'next' button you get taken to a Paypal site but instead of putting any of your details in, look down the bottom left where there is a small link giving you the possibility of 'going back to ipetitions'. Pick this one, your signature will still work and it won't have cost you a penny.

Please tell me of any problems you have signing the petition, including if you don't feel able to sign it due to the admittedly stupid arrangements.

That Petition....please don't be put off...

I walked a friend through the process of signing my petition earlier. I have to admit it wasn't as easy as when I signed it for myself.

I'm sorry everyone, I now realise that the site may try to get you to pay them money. I must reassure you that it's not compulsory.

The way through is to sign as requested, click 'sign', and unfortunately you get taken to a 'please donate' screen with no apparent bypass route. However, if you click the 'next' button you get taken to a Paypal site but instead of putting any of your details in, look down the bottom left where there is a small link giving you the possibility of 'going back to ipetitions'. Pick this one, your signature will still work.

Please tell me of any problems you have signing the petition, including if you don't feel able to sign it due to the admittedly stupid arrangements.

And if you feel you should donate the money doesn't go to me so I'm staying out of that decision.

We're Doing a Petition...

I blogged yesterday about how Nottingham City Council should publish all Freedom of Information requests and responses to its website in the interests of openness and efficiency.

It later occurred to me that it might be possible to do something about it by starting an online petition, so that's what I've done.

Please sign the petition here.

It allows you to be listed as anonymous and, although it asks for your postcode (zip code in the American language) its not a required field. I just thought it might be useful if the signatories could be shown to mostly come from Nottingham so please do consider entering your postcode as well. Email addresses are not shown.

It's a bit of a risk because if nobody signs it we'll look a bit daft but nothing ventured etc. Please pass this on to friends, relatives, strangers you meet in the street or whatever.

Thank you.