Standards for petitions

Published 01/09/2020   |   Last Updated 01/12/2020   |   Reading Time minutes

You can submit a petition on any issue that is the responsibility of the Senedd or the Welsh Government.

Petitions must call for a specific action from the Senedd or Welsh Government.

Petitions can disagree with the Welsh Government and can ask for it to change its policies. Petitions can be critical of the Senedd or Welsh Government.

We reject petitions that don’t meet the rules. If we reject your petition, we will tell you why. If we can, we will suggest other ways you could raise your issue.

We’ll have to reject your petition if:

  • It calls for the same action as a petition that’s already open, or one which was closed by the Petitions Committee less than a year earlier;
  • It doesn’t ask for a clear action from the Senedd or Welsh Government;
  • It’s about something the Welsh Government or Parliament is not responsible for;
    • That includes: something that your local council is responsible for (including planning decisions); something that the UK Government or Parliament is responsible for; and something that an independent organisation has done.
  • It contains language which is offensive, intemperate, or provocative. This not only includes obvious profanities, swear words and insults, but any language which a reasonable person would regard as offensive;
  • It contains potentially false or potentially defamatory statements;
  • It refers to a case that’s active in the UK courts;
  • It contains material that is prohibited from being published by an order of a court or a body or person with similar power;
  • It accuses an identifiable person or organisation of a crime;
  • It contains material that could be confidential or commercially sensitive;
  • It could cause personal distress or loss;
  • It names individual officials of public bodies, unless they are senior managers;
  • It names family members of elected representatives or officials of public bodies;
  • It’s an advert, spam, or promotes a specific product or service;
  • It’s nonsense or a joke;
  • It concerns an issue for which a petition is not the appropriate channel.
    • That includes: correspondence about a personal issue and petitions which ask for someone to be given a job, lose their job or resign, or which call for a vote of no confidence.

We publish the text of petitions that we reject, as long as they’re not:

  • defamatory, libellous or illegal in another way;
  • about a case that is active in the UK courts or about something that a court has issued an injunction over;
  • offensive or extreme;
  • confidential or likely to cause personal distress; or
  • a joke, an advert or nonsense.

Read the full rules governing the petitions process.