Petitions fail to change policy, almost always

Groans at a petition to stop IR35 reforms appear to have been borne out by figures showing that very few of such public appeals ever lead to changes in legislation.

In fact, out of the more than 26,000 petitions to have been uploaded to parliament’s website in almost the last year-and-a-half, not even 10 have reportedly led to policy changes.

Specifically, just seven have clearly led to, or coincided with, government action addressing the petitioner’s concerns, the Times reported, out a total of 26,114 petitions in 17 months.

Only 370 drew a response from the government -- which happens at 10,000 signatures, and only 47 were debated in the House of Commons -- standard procedure at 100,000 signatures.

The notable exception to the rule that petitions usually make no difference was one set up by Jamie Oliver, the TV chef whose petition against sugary drinks attracted 155,000 signatures.

Following praise for it, George Osborne used Budget 2016 to vow to unveil a soft drinks levy and impose it on the makers. But the tax has since been axed by the new PM Theresa May.

In the contractor sector, petitions have been launched against ‘SDC,’ Security Clearance, the Intermediaries legislation and, most recently, the new dividend tax. It took effect in April last year.