Scottish Borders Council (SBC) has today agreed a process which allows residents to submit petitions on issues which relate to matters within the responsibility of the Council or general well-being of residents of the Borders.

As a result of the review of the formal decision making process of the new Council, a new petitions committee was included in the Council’s Scheme of Administration which was approved on 30 August 2012.

The committee was formed to consider and take appropriate action with any petitions submitted to the Council. It is the first time SBC has formed a committee and process for dealing with petitions.

To support the work of this committee, it was necessary to produce a transparent procedure around when and how a petition can be submitted to the Council for consideration by the Petitions Committee.

Chair of the Petitions Committee, Councillor Alec Nicol said: “I am very pleased that we now have a petitions committee and a set of very clear guidelines around when and how a petition can be submitted. This process shows that we are always keen to take on board the views of members of the public to help us inform the work of the council. I am looking forward to the work of this committee getting underway.”

They key points of the procedure are below:

• petitions should raise issues which relate to matters within the responsibility of SBC or general well-being of residents of the Borders
• a petition should be put forward on the standard form which is available from the Council’s website or from the Clerk to the Council
• they should be submitted with at least ten signatures from persons aged 16 or over – and signatures must be from a minimum of three addresses
• petitions from local businesses shall be accepted where there is support from at least five businesses on the Valuation roll for SBC
• all valid petitions with accompanying information shall be passed to the next scheduled meeting of the petitions committee
• the decision made will be recorded in the minute and sent to the principal petitioner
• there will be no right of appeal to a final decision made in response to a petition.

It was agreed the petitions process should be reviewed annually. It was also agreed to delegate authority to the Clerk to the Council to make minor changes to the petitions process to take into account the processes of the Council’s Community Planning partners.

Information on the petitions procedure will be available from www.scotborders.gov.uk from early next week.