Sign or start a petition

We welcome online and paper petitions and recognise that they are one way in which people can let us know their concerns.

Petitions can be organised or signed by anyone who lives, works or studies in Sheffield. Please read our advice on how to submit or sign a petition.

You can read our petition logs to look at past petitions and what action we took in response.

Online petitions

An e-Petition can relate to any issue on which the Council has powers or duties on which it has shared delivery responsibilities through a partnership.

You'll need to create an account if you don't have one and, for your petition to be valid, everyone who signs it will need to provide their name and address. 

Paper petitions

We accept paper petitions with at least 5 signatures. Paper petitions need to state the subject of the petition and what action you want the Council to take, the contact and address details of the organiser, along with the names, addresses and signatures of people supporting the petition.

Petitions can be sent to us or presented at a meeting by giving advance notice.

What happens to petitions

We'll let you know we have received your petition within 14 days, publish it on our website, let you know what we plan to do next and when you can expect to hear from us again. If the petition needs more investigation, we'll tell you the steps we plan to take.

Most petitions go to a public meeting where petitioners can present their petition and Councillors will decide how to respond. Petitions with 5,000 signatures will trigger a public debate at Full Council and those with 2,500 signatures can call for evidence by a Senior Officer at a Policy Committee.

Petitions relating to licensing or planning can be received by the Council, presented to full Council or a Policy Committee and referred to Licensing Committee or Planning and Highways Committee as appropriate.

Data Privacy and petitions

By starting or signing a petition, you're giving explicit consent to us to process your personal data as part of the Council's Petition Scheme.

This means Councillors and Council Officers can respond to the issue(s) raised, publish details about the petition's objectives in public reports and invite the lead petitioner (or representative) to speak at a Committee meeting. This use may include some personal details (such as the speaker’s name and address) and we may publicly broadcast meetings that include personal statements made by those speaking.

Petitioners have the right to withdraw this consent at any time. However, withdrawing consent does not affect the processing that has occurred before this time.