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Member of Parliament for Bradford East@DavidWardMP on Twitter and Facebook |
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David Ward MP <>
3221 words to tell the Council what to do with a petition!
February 10, 2009 9:44 AM
Councillor David Ward, chair of the Bradford North Area Committee has condemned the Government for introducing legislation making it harder for people to petition their local council.
He said,
" Over eight pages of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill are dedicated to setting conditions on the form petitions to local councils can take. The section runs to 3,221 words of primary legislation, with further statutory guidance expected to follow.
" These ridiculous proposals will force us to spend time and resources on setting up and managing complicated bureaucratic procedures.
" The Bill gives councils the chance to throw out the vast majority of petitions they receive because they will not be 'valid' according to the bureaucratic and legalistic rules they want to set into law.
"Far from helping people to put forward their views, they will make it a lot harder. Bradford Council has a perfectly workable procedure for handling petitions where residents can bring their petition to a council meeting and speak about it. The Council then sends it on a committee which can deal with the details.
Frankly, we don't need the Government to tell us what to do."