Commentary Background Summary and Background Section 19 – Powers of appropriate national authority
48.Section 19 sets out the powers of the appropriate national authority (the Secretary of State in relation to principal authorities in England and the Welsh Ministers in relation to principal authorities in Wales) to issue guidance in relation to the discharge of the petition function by principal authorities. This power includes a power to create a model petitions scheme which authorities will be able to adopt. The appropriate national authority has power to direct an individual principal authority to amend its petition scheme, for example, if an authority set an inappropriately high threshold for the number of signatures required to mean a petition is “active” within the meaning of section 14, the appropriate national authority could require an authority to set a lower threshold. There is also a power to make orders applicable to all principal authorities to require them to make particular provision in their petition schemes.