Taking part in the democratic process

Taking part in the democratic process

How you can have your say

The Council wants to encourage residents and other interested people to participate as much as possible in the democratic process. There are several ways to do this:

Petitions 

We have a Petitions Scheme  , which tells you how to submit a petition and what the Council will do when it receives a petition. 

We welcome petitions from people who live, work or study in the borough – they are a way for people to let us know about their concerns and whether they support what we are doing You can petition the Council either:

• in paper form by either posting to the Petitions Officer, room 133a, Hammersmith Town Hall, King Street, London W6 9JU, or sending the final petition by email to: petitions.officer@lbhf.gov.uk 
• by using our ePetitions portal. ePetitions allow people to join a petition online – only their names will be shown on the online petition. 
   

Browse all paper and ePetitions received.

This is what will happen (if your petition is valid), depending on the number of people signing the petition:

Minimum Number of Signatories	Type of Petition	Decision Maker
5000	Council Debate	The Full Council*
2000	Calling a Director to give evidence	Select Committee or Scrutiny Board*
250	Cabinet debate	The Cabinet*
100	Petitions to Cabinet Members	The relevant Cabinet Member
Below 100	Officer petition	The relevant officer, in consultation with the appropriate Cabinet Member

The person organising the petition (or his/her representative) will be able to address a meeting about the subject of a petition for a period not exceeding 5 minutes, and will also have the opportunity to answer any questions.

*Valid petitions received will be considered at the next meeting practicable.This may not be the first meeting after the petition has been received and validated.

Deputations

A deputation is when a group of borough residents (up to 10) attends a meeting of the Cabinet, a Select Committee or the Scrutiny Board to give their views on a matter which is on the meeting agenda. The deputation leader has the opportunity to address the meeting for a period of not more than 5 minutes and to answer any questions.

The subjects which the Cabinet or Select Committee or Scrutiny Board is due to consider are printed on the front of the meeting agenda.

Decisions which the Cabinet is due to take over the next four month period are in the Council’s Forward Plan.  

If you want to organise a deputation, please see our Deputation Request Form. This form should be signed by at least 10 registered Hammersmith and Fulham electors and returned to the officer referred to on the relevant agenda.

The deadline for deputations is 3 working days before a meeting takes place. The deadlines for deputations to upcoming Cabinet meetings are as follows:

For the meeting of Cabinet on 18 July 2011, the deadline for deputations is 13 July 2011
For the meeting of Cabinet on 5 September 2011, the deadline for deputations is 31 August 2011
For the meeting of Cabinet on 10 October 2011, the deadline for deputations is 5 October 2011
For the meeting of Cabinet on 7 November 2011, the deadline for deputations is 3 November2011 
For the meeting of Cabinet on 5 December 2011, the deadline for deputations is 1 December 2011 
For the meeting of Cabinet on 9 January 2012, the deadline for deputations is 5 January 2011 
For the meeting of Cabinet on 30 January 2012, the deadline for deputations is 26 January 2012 
For the meeting of Cabinet on 5 March 2012, the deadline for deputations is 1 March 2012 
For the meeting of Cabinet on 16 April 2012, the deadline for deputations is 12 April 2012 

Public questions to Full Council

A member of the public who lives, works, or is being educated in the Borough, may ask the Leader or a Cabinet Member one question (and one supplementary on his/her reply) on any matter relating to the discharge of the Council's functions. The question must be in writing and submitted to the Assistant Director (Legal & Democratic Services) at least 7 clear working days (no later than 12 noon) before the day of the Council Meeting.  The submission dates are:

Friday 17 June 2011 at 12 noon for 29 June 2011 meeting
Friday 7 October 2011 at 12 noon for 19 October 2011 meeting
Friday 20 January 2012 at 12 noon for 1 February 2012 meeting
Friday 17 February 2012 at 12 noon for 29 February 2012 meeting
No public questions may be asked at the Annual Council meeting to be held on 30 May 2012

Questions which, in the opinion of the Mayor, are defamatory or unsuitable in form, frivolous or derogatory will not be accepted.  Replies to questions will be oral. If the questioner is not present when the question is called at the meeting, a written reply shall be provided. However, persons questioned may decline to reply, if in their opinion, questions involve an excessive and unnecessary amount of time on the part of officers in collating or preparing the information required. If a question does not receive a reply within the time allowed for the public session, the Leader or Cabinet Member will provide a written reply to the questioner. All public questions and the reply given by the Leader or Cabinet Member will be recorded in the Minutes of the Council.

Public questions will be sent to Kayode Adewumi, email: kayode.adewumi@lbhf.gov.uk 

Direct involvement at Scrutiny Committees:

Our Scrutiny Committees encourage public participation.  You can take part in a number of ways:

Attendance:
All Scrutiny Committees are open to the public (except on very limited occasions when they are considering confidential information). Meetings normally start at 7pm at Hammersmith Town Hall. You are welcome to attend and contribute to the discussion, subject to general rules of debate and the Chairman's discretion. 

Co-opted members:
Members of the public can be appointed as co-opted members of a Scrutiny Committee, subject to certain provisions. There are four Scrutiny Committees mostly meeting six times a year. 

Expert witnesses: 
You may have local or special knowledge which would be of use to Scrutiny Committees in their deliberations on specific topics. You could be invited to participate for discussion of this one item. 

Select Committee style inquiries: 
From time to time, Scrutiny Committees undertake these in-depth inquiries.  These involve a great deal of data gathering. They are well publicised and if you have something to share, you are welcome to do so.

Other public meetings:

There are a number of other public meetings that you are welcome to attend. These include:

• Full Council Meetings where strategic plans and programmes are considered and approved, and public questions heard.
  
  
• Planning Applications Committee where planning applications are considered (although the public do not have a right to address the Committee- only local Ward Councillors).
  
  
• Licensing Sub-Committee which deals with pub and entertainment licences. Members of the public who have made a valid representation during the consultation period on an application have a right to address the Committee. All members of the public are welcome to attend.

Details of all Council Committees

For more information about any aspect of participating in the democratic process, please contact:

Kayode Adewumi
Head of Governance and Scrutiny 
kayode.adewumi@lbhf.gov.uk

Administrative and clerking service for admission appeals

Hammersmith & Fulham’s Governance & Scrutiny Team now offers Academies and Free Schools an administrative and clerking service for admission appeals.