Citizens have the right to petition for a directly elected mayor.
If the council receives a valid petition signed by at least 5% of the local government electors in its area, it must hold a referendum. If the referendum results in a majority vote in favour of establishing an elected mayor, the council has to introduce such arrangements.
The petition
Anyone can organise a petition. The petition organiser is responsible for collecting the required number of signatures and submitting the petition to the council. Once the petition has been submitted the petition organiser will be the person we will correspond with.
To be valid, a submitted petition must:
- be signed by at least 5% of people registered to vote at a local government election in Bracknell Forest (this is called the 'verification number')
- follow the regulations on how the petition should be formatted and how signatories should be recorded - see Regulation 10 of the Local Authorities (Referendum) (Petitions and Directions) (England) Regulations 2000 (as amended)
The minimum number of supporters required (the 'verification number')
We publish the number of people that equals 5% of those registered to vote at a local government election in our area in February each year. This number is calculated from the Electoral Register.
Between publication of the number and 31 March that same year, one of 2 figures can be used:
- the new number
- the number published the previous year
Councils must use the lowest number as the verification figure for any petition submitted during this period.
Before 15 February 2024, the figure was 4569 registered electors.
Published number
This number is published under Regulation 4(1) Local Authorities (Referendum) (Petitions and Directions) (England) Regulations 2000 (as amended).
The number that is equal to 5% of the number of local government electors shown in the revised register of electors is:
4586
This figure will determine the validity of petitions presented from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
The number equal to 5% of the local government electors for 2025 will be published within 14 days of 15 February 2025.
If this number is less than 4586, the number to be used for verification purposes in relation to any petition submitted for the period beginning on the date of publication of the lower number until 31 March 2025 will be that lower number.
Mr Sanjay Prashar - Proper Officer
Bracknell Forest Council
Time Square
Market Street
Bracknell
RG12 1JD