Procedure - First Report

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Here you can browse the report together with the Proceedings of the Committee. The published report was ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 19 March 2008.

Contents

Terms of Reference

Summary

1 Introduction

History of petitioning

Our inquiry

2 Arguments against e-petitioning

Volumes

Trivial or mischievous petitions

Public expectations

Implications for Members' workload

Costs

Consequences of failure

3 Arguments for introducing e-petitions

Primacy of Parliament

Means of communication

Broader engagement

Transparency and accessibility

Interaction

4 Options for a scheme

First option

Second option

Third option

5 Our preferred option

Our proposed system

Arrival on the site

Submitting an e-petition

Authentication of signatures

Role of Members of Parliament

Time on the website

Communications

Other relevant information

Presentation to the House

Recommendation

Complexity

6 Outcomes

7 Rules on admissibility and content

Identical or very similar petitions

Petitions Office

8 Implementation

Public information

Information for Members

Costs

Delivery

Timescale

Management

9 Conclusion

Conclusions and recommendations

Formal Minutes

Witnesses

List of written evidence

Reports from the Procedure Committee since 2005

Sample web pages

Oral and Written Evidence
28 November 2007
16 January 2008
30 January 2008

Written Evidence

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Prepared 6 April 2008