How do Petitions work?
If you have a cause that you want to get noticed by the Government then the UK Government petition website is the place to start. Using the website you can create a petition and share it so that you can gain signatures and prove support for your campaign.
If a petition gets 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a response.
If a petition gets 100,000 signatures the Government will consider the issue for debate in Parliament.
“Petitions which reach 100,000 signatures are almost always debated. But we may decide not to put a petition forward for debate if the issue has already been debated recently or there’s a debate scheduled for the near future. If that’s the case, we’ll tell you how you can find out more about parliamentary debates on the issue raised by your petition.
MPs might consider your petition for a debate before it reaches 100,000 signatures.
We may contact you about the issue covered by your petition. For example, we sometimes invite people who create petitions to take part in a discussion with MPs or government ministers, or to give evidence to a select committee. We may also write to other people or organisations to ask them about the issue raised by your petition.” (Source)
This video created by UK Parliament explains Petitions in a little more detail:
Many petitions reach the required number of signatures and see their issues debated in Parliament. One such petition called for British Sign Language to be introduced into the curriculum, here Wayne Barrow, who proposed the petition, explains his experience of the petitions process.
Here’s my exciting news! @HoCpetitions pic.twitter.com/vG6Kqa7eRK
— Wayne Barrow (@presenterwayne) February 28, 2018