PROTOCOLS for dealing with e-petitions could change following a review to be conducted by the Privileges and Procedures Committee.
Currently, petitions which reach the 5,000-signature threshold are considered for debate, but the format currently used does not allow any formal decision to be taken on the subject concerned.
Unless a States Member has taken it up independently and lodged their own proposition, PPC, which is responsible for the procedures of the States Assembly, Members’ facilities and the code of conduct, proposes a so-called in-committee debate in which Members can speak more than once but which does not then proceed to a vote.
“What this means in reality is that although there could be over 5,000 people who would wish for the Assembly to take a particular form of action, they can often be left disappointed that a formal decision is not made,” PPC chair Constable Karen Shenton-Stone said.
She described it as “disrespectful” to the thousands of people who had made the effort to sign the petition for there to be no discussion at all of an issue but added: “I am not certain the current in-committee format quite meets the public’s expectations and my committee will look at what other ways we can ensure their voices are adequately heard.”
