Consultations and petitions
Have your say and get involved with council decisions and local issues.
Consultations
A consultation is a formal process where we ask for your views to help us make a decision on a specific topic. We consider what you say and use this, along with other information.
Our Consultation Hub lets you search for current consultations to take part in.
Keep informed
Sign up to the ASK Bristol ebulletin for a monthly email about new consultations and other opportunities to have your say.
You can also follow us on our ASK Bristol twitter.
When a consultation has finished
Visit You said, We did on the Consultation Hub to see finished consultations.
After a consultation has finished we’ll publish the feedback and how it’s been used in the final decision.
Our code of conduct
We're committed to following the code of good practice on consultations.
Petitions
A petition is a formal way for you to give your views on a topic that interests you.
Anyone who lives, works or studies in Bristol can start or sign a petition. There's no age limit; children and young people can sign and start petitions.
If the petition gets 3,500 signatures you'll have the opportunity to debate your petition in a full council meeting.
Petitions sent to us can inform decisions and lead to change. For example, a petition can:
- bring an issue to our attention, such as traffic calming measures or a new public swimming pool
- show strong public approval or disapproval to something that we are doing
Sign a petition
Our e-participation system lets you view and support current online petitions.
Start a petition
Before you start a petition read our petition guide.
Other ways to start a petition
You can also start petition on paper. This can be on its own or along with an online petition.
Our petition template will be useful for collecting signatures for a paper petition but you can use your own.
All paper petitions must follow our petition guidelines and the finished petition can be sent to us by post or presented at a council meeting.
By post
Paper petitions can be sent to:
Democratic Services
City Hall
PO Box 3176
Bristol
BS3 9FS
Presented to a council meeting
Petitions can be presented at a council meeting. These meetings take place approximately every 6 weeks. Dates and times can be found on our committee meeting finder.
If you would like to present your petition to the council contact us on 0117 922 2384.
If you want your councillor to present your petition at a council meeting for you then you'll need to contact them. You can find your councillor’s details on our councillor finder.
Contact us at least 10 working days before the meeting so we can give advice on your petition.
Citizens Panel
The Citizens Panel is made up of over 2,000 people from across Bristol who regularly share their views and ideas on a wide range of issues.
Join the Citizens Panel
You can only join the Citizens Panel if you’ve been sent an invitation from us.
Invitations to join the Citizens Panel are chosen at random from the electoral register and we make sure that the people chosen to be on the panel reflect the population of Bristol, in age, ethnicity, gender and location.
The panel is changed every three years.
What panel members do
Members of the Citizens Panel are asked to fill in up to three questionnaires a year.
Panel members are also asked to come to group discussions or workshops on issues they're interested in.
Results of the panel
You can find out what topics the Citizen Panel have been giving feedback on at the Consultation Hub and searching for ‘Citizens’ Panel’ under ‘Find consultations’.