Petition provision in Guernsey 

As mentioned, unlike other jurisdictions, petitions launched in the Bailiwick of Guernsey cannot force any kind of debate, even if it tops a certain number of signatures. And while it could be argued that a requete is a type of petition – that could be triggered by public lobbying - albeit on a smaller scale, it’s miles off a true petition, which offers some insight into the will of the public at large. 

While the possibility of introducing e-petitions has been loosely discussed in the past, the idea has never picked up any political traction. 

The States Assembly & Constitution Committee (SACC) reviews the machinery of government and the island’s constitution and said it wouldn’t be averse to investigating a petition provision, despite it not being a priority at the moment. 

“There is not currently a provision for public petitions to automatically trigger debate in the States, and this has not been a matter considered by the States Assembly & Constitution Committee in this political term,” said the President of SACC, Deputy Carl Meerveld. 

“Guernsey is unlike many other jurisdictions which do operate such a scheme in that members of the community enjoy considerable access to their elected representatives, which allows frequent and open dialogue on a variety of subjects. Our Deputies have occasionally received petitions from various groups and, whilst these do not, of themselves, formally trigger a debate in the Assembly, elected Members do take them seriously as an indication of the strength of feeling in the community in respect of the issue in question.  

"SACC would not discount it as something Guernsey could consider in the future, but at this stage it is not a priority for the current Assembly which is having to be very focused on dealing with the most essential issues facing the States and the community at this time. 

The situation elsewhere 

Looking across the water, both the UK and Jersey have provisions in place to officially elevate petitions to the political level.  

In Jersey anyone over the age of 16 can launch an e-petition and, if it is something the States of Jersey can do something about and calls for a specific action, it can be debated. 

1,000 signatures will get you an official letter from a minister. 5,000 signatures will see the meat of the petition potentially debated, as long as it isn’t something that isn’t already up for debate. 

Since its inception in 2018 however only seven petitions have reached the ‘debate in the assembly’ stage and two of those were covid related, with the action in the petition already enacted before debate could take place. 

The introduction of e-petitions in Jersey was labelled a "gimmick" by the-then President of SACC, Deputy Peter Roffey, who argued that “it is total window-dressing". 

A near identical provision exists in the UK, but on a much larger scale. 10,000 signatures gets the instigator of the petition a government response; 100,000 signatures “are almost always debated”. 

Have Guernsey petitions ever worked? 

Despite Guernsey lacking in the kind of petition provision that both the UK and Jersey enjoy, it hasn’t stopped people petitioning hundreds of valid causes over the years. 

In 1961 the Fort George Development Committee recommended the sale of parts of Fort George for “high standard” development. The proposals were approved but generated massive public backlash. A requete was launched seeking to reduce the scope of the proposals and it was backed by a petition of 10,000 signatures.  

While it could be argued the petition bolstered the requete, it did nothing to stop it being heavily defeated. 

Over the years there have been petitions trying to ban single use plastics, attempts to make cat ‘hit and runs’ illegal, and most recently to try and “save” the dyslexia day centre. None of which were successful in enacting any change. An 8,000 strong petition to try and curtail compulsory seatbelts failed to make an impact more than three decades ago.  

But the point isn’t always to try and force political debate. Sometimes the aim of a petition is pressure, and there have been some cases where this pressure has paid off. 

In 2016 a petition was launched to stop the Sunken Gardens being re-developed. The Committee for Education, Sport and Leisure at the time submitted a planning application to raise it to the level of the street and move the war memorial.  

1,350 signatures later and the planning application was pulled.  

It could be argued that intense public backlash to Policy & Resources GST proposals – including a 2,618 strong petition – led to the taxation stalemate earlier this year.

Which leads on to the final question... 

Do politicians take petitions seriously? 

Express reached out to every single one of the island’s elected officials to get their take on petitions. A quarter of them replied. 

Deputy Neil Inder said in the “twilight days of my Presidency of SACC” there was discussion about whether a UK/Jersey style petition system could be introduced. 

“Unfortunately, it was work left undone as we were delivering the Islands first Island Wide Election in the middle of Covid. 

“My general view is that there is merit in something like this, but as far as I know no further work has been conducted in this regard.” 

Pictured: “Input from the average punter can be a useful wake-up call,” said Deputy John Dyke, who argued that misguided consensus can develop within the small pool of elected officials. 

Deputy Steve Falla said: “There’s no doubt that mobilised public action is noticed by politicians.” 

He argued that petitions can lead to debate on matters that might not otherwise come to the attention of the Assembly. 

His sentiment was echoed by Deputy Lyndon Trott, who said public petitions should always be taken seriously. 

"They are a gauge as to the extent and depth of opinion on a particular subject.” 

Deputy Rob Prow said: “In my view petitions are a very useful tool whereby the public can indicate a level of support for a view or mount a challenge to a particular issue that affects them.” 

Pictured: “I think a properly organised petition is a good idea,” said Deputy Chris Blinn. 

Despite support for the general idea of petitions, one thing became clear after seeking feedback from deputies, there are seemingly better ways to lobby politicians. 

Deputy Trott continued: “One of the advantages of living in a relatively small community is the accessibility to and of, our public representatives."

Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller said petitions come with caveats, suggesting that they could be “structured in a biased way”. 

“I think it's really important that we find ways of better engagement with public. I am not sure that embedding petitions within the machinery of government may be the right approach right now though because of the resource constraints. Given how small we are and how easily accessible most politicians are, it is possible to achieve similar outcomes by lobbying a deputy to bring a requete to debate an issue.” 

Deputy Simon Fairclough said, while he takes public petitions seriously, he wouldn’t support petitions “triggering debate in the States” because business that comes before them should be researched, evidenced and scheduled.  

A petition is a “numbers game” according to Deputy Lester Queripel, who said “if for example, 6,000 people sign a petition, then it’s going to stand more chance of being taken notice of than a petition that’s been signed by 60”. 

And Deputy Aidan Matthews said it's up to individual committees to “take heed of petitions”. 

“One recent example was the recent petition on the changes to charge rates for emergency care, and specifically the effect for cancer patients.   

“As well as a large petition, there was some very well-informed commentary from those who had experienced the exceptional difficulty faced by those undergoing chemotherapy and cancer treatment.  The committee for HSC was moved to reconsider the changes by this, which shows we do listen and acknowledge public concerns.” 

To petition or not to petition 

In answer to the initial question ‘are petitions pointless?’ the answer seems to be a soft no - if it's something that the States of Guernsey can actually do something about. While a petition in and of itself can’t force change, it does provide the public an outlet to vent and put pressure on the people casting the votes.  

And while there doesn’t seem to be any appetite to introduce petitions anytime soon, coupled with a healthy protest, it does seem like the public is often listened to. 

Get signing.