UK Parliament e-petitions

What it does

Petitions from British citizens and UK residents that ask for a clear action from the UK Government or Parliament on a matter within their responsibility.

Honest assessment

Largely symbolic, and should be labelled as such. The 10,000 threshold buys a departmental form response drafted to restate existing policy; the 100,000 threshold buys, at best, a sparsely-attended Westminster Hall debate that binds nobody. It is not remotely equivalent to written evidence to a select committee, which is published under your name, permanently citable and quoted in reports the Government must formally answer. Use petitions for public attention and media hooks, not for influence.

How to file

Draft the petition, secure 5 supporters, submit for standards review, and if approved it is published and open for signatures for 6 months.

Format

A short, single, clearly-actionable request.

Timing

6 months open once published.

What happens after

At 10,000 signatures the Government publishes a written response. At 100,000 the petition is considered for a Westminster Hall debate — the Petitions Committee retains discretion and may decline if the topic was recently debated or is already scheduled.

What it accepts

Petitions from British citizens and UK residents that ask for a clear action from the UK Government or Parliament on a matter within their responsibility.

What it does not accept

Local council matters; anything not calling for a clear action; petitions failing the standards check. Only petitions created on petition.parliament.uk qualify — petitions hosted elsewhere (Change.org, 38 Degrees) receive no government response and no committee consideration whatsoever.

Operated by

UK Government and Parliament, overseen by the Commons Petitions Committee