ONLINE petitions that attract more than 10,000 signatures are to receive a Government response, it has been announced.
At the moment, those e-petitions that are signed by more than 100,000 people on the Government's website become eligible for a debate in the House of Commons.
Leader of the Commons Andrew Lansley said yesterday that those with more than 10,000 names would trigger a departmental response, with a statement of the Government's policy and details of any relevant current parliamentary activity on the subject.
There are currently some 39 petitions on the website that have already hit the new threshold.
Since the website was set up in July 2011, a total of 11 petitions have had more than 100,000 signatures, all of which have either been debated or are due for debate.
In a written ministerial statement, Mr Lansley said: "E-petitions have been an important part of increasing public understanding of Parliament."
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