The Government today responded to the consultation on Local Petitions and Calls for Action. So far, so thrilling. But it will place a statutory duty on local authorities to respond to all local petitions, including electronic petitions.
For those of us interested in using digital communications to open up participation in local democracy this is a welcome response to the consultation. It would be wonderful if this was to lead to more councils starting their own petition sites, like Bristol have done.
You can view the consultation document here (PDF – opens in a new window)
