Role - Petitions Committee

The Petitions Committee is set up by the House of Commons to look at e-petitions submitted on petition.parliament.uk and public (paper) petitions presented to the House of Commons.

The Petitions Committee can:

• ask for more information in writing—from petitioners, the Government, or other relevant people or organisations
• ask for more information in person—from petitioners, the Government, or other relevant people or organisations. This might be in Parliament or somewhere else in the UK
• write to the Government or another public body to press for action on a petition
• ask another parliamentary committee to look into the topic raised by a petition
• put forward petitions for debate in the House of Commons

The Committee is made up of 11 backbench Members of Parliament from Government and Opposition parties. The number of seats each party has is calculated to reflect the membership of the House as a whole. The Chair of the Committee was elected on 9 September 2024.

• How the Committee makes its decisions
• Latest decisions made on petitions
• How e-petitions work
• How public (paper) petitions work
• Read statement by the Chair of the Committee on her election
• Find out how Committee Chairs are elected
• How petitions debates work’?