§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Lord President of the Council what proposals he has to simplify the language required to be used under the public petition procedure.
§ Mr. MacGregorI have no proposals at present. The marked increase in the number of public petitions written by the public and presented by hon. Members since 1983 suggests that the language currently required does not present a significant obstacle to those wishing to petition the House and hon. Members may consult the Clerk of Public Petitions when necessary. Nevertheless, I would give any proposals made to me careful consideration.
545W
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Lord President of the Council if he will establish a survey of Members in connection with possible improvements to the public petition procedure.
§ Mr. MacGregorI have no present plans to do so. If the Select Committee on Procedure were to examine amendments to the resolutions and practices of the House concerning public petitions, hon. Members could make their views known to the Committee and its recommendations would be given careful consideration.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Lord President of the Council how many public petitions have been submitted to the House in each year for which data are available.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe number of public petitions presented to the House in each Session since 1785 for which data are available is as follows:
546W
Year Number 1785 298 1786 156 1787 98 1787–88 201 1788–89 127 1801 192 1801–2 158 1802–3 367 1803–4 168 1804–5 141 1811 132 1812 340 1812–13 1,699 1813–14 1,479 1814–15 848 1827 3,635 1828 4,074 1929 4,041 1830 2,522 1830–31 8,961 1831 1,259 1833 10,394 1834 9,407 1835 4,061 1836 5,835 1837 9,822 1837–38 9,516 1839 13,737 1840 18,646 1841 18,648 1842 9,525 1843 33,898 1844 12,462 1845 16,453 1846 8,645 1847 10,527 1847–48 18,504 1849 9,947 1850 16,137 1851 12,021 1852 5,639 1852–53 11,164 1854 10,387 1854–55 10,036 1856 13,867 1857 6,306 1857–58 7,073 1859 6,101 1860 24,279 1861 15,352 1862 10,198 1863 12,583 1864 10,222 1865 8,076 1866 9,691 1867 12,733 1867–68 17,802 547W
Year Number 1868–69 18,138 1870 19,891 1871 17,500 1872 28,242 1873 21,426 1874 19,107 1875 20,610 1876 18,898 1877 11,805 1878 16,994 1879 12,383 1880 10,022 1881 14,051 1882 19,400 1883 23,304 1884 21,294 1885 10,654 1886 8,173 1887 10,390 1888 12,713 1889 8,317 1890 10,337 1890–91 12,537 1892 6,219 1893–94 33,742 1894 2,245 1895 (I) 9,372 1895 (II) 60 1896 8,412 1987 3,079 1898 5,198 1899 (I) 3,782 1899 (II) 25 1900 (I) 11,126 1900 (II) 28 1901 9,850 1902 5,637 1903 3,170 1904 12,558 1905 1,098 1906 8,893 1907 2,134 1908 10,600 1909 1,811 1910 1,545 1911 236 1912–13 10,221 1913 600 1914 384 1914–16 57 1916 35 1917–18 256 1918 15 1919 121 1920 32 1921 (I) 50 1921 (II) 0 1922 (I) 22 1922 (II) 5 1923 177 1924 19 1924–25 448 1926 344 1927 43 1928 10 1928–29 12 1929–30 23 1930–31 99 1931–32 13 1932–33 695 1933–34 60 1934–35 103 1935–36 6 1936–37 14 1937–38 9 1938–39 16 1939–40 1 1940–41 2
Year Number 1941–42 6 1942–43 4 1943–44 5 1944–45 2 1945–46 27 1946–47 61 1947–48 9 1948 — 1948–49 5 1950 5 1950–51 18 1951–52 11 1952–53 18 1953–54 24 1954–55 2 1955–56 16 1956–57 58 1957–58 12 1958–59 36 1959–60 8 1960–61 33 1961–62 16 1962–63 19 1963–64 12 1964–65 10 1965–66 6 1966–67 17 1967–68 27 1968–69 16 1969–70 4 1970–71 8 1971–72 21 1972–73 25 1973–74 6 1974 12 1974–75 27 1975–76 58 1976–77 61 1977–78 24 1978–79 10 1979–80 7 1980–81 29 1981–82 27 1982–83 29 1983–84 732 1984–85 1,059 1985–86 516 1986–87 108 1987–88 356 1988–89 227 1989–90 960 1990–91 127 1 As at 25 January 1991.