Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think it's an excellent idea. It shows that the House is keen to engage with the people and is listening to the people. It enables people to see that the House is not only engaging with their issue but it's participating as well through debates raised on issues they're interested in.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If you have only 50 signatories, then that might be an area for concern. You would want to have specific thresholds for your petitioners to meet in order to respond to petitions.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think it would be useful. I presume you do it through postal code matching and people's postal codes would be matched with the MP's constituency. It could be used to alert an MP that a petition is being submitted by one of their constituents, but I don't think they should necessarily have to take that on board.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That sounds good. Thank you for inviting me. This brief presentation draws on my research into petitions systems in the U.K., including in Scotland and Wales. Having an e-petitions system can be a good thing for representative democratic bodies. Such systems can facilitate citizens’ input and participation in the democratic process, they can inform politicians and policy-makers about public concerns, and they can also be designed to have an educative function, in that they can provide some people with an opportunity to engage with the political system and to learn how it works.