Petition Move public notices online and save £75 million per year

Current legislation requires public notices to be placed in local newspapers. This requirement costs the government £80 million per annum, according to the results of surveys by the LGiU and the Cabinet Office.

I would like to change this legislation, to give notices published online the same legal status as those placed in local newspapers. This will enable these notices to reach a wider audience, allow use of translation and accessibility software, provide the public with greater information, whilst also generating efficiency savings of around £75 million per annum for the Government. And it reduce the statutory advertising burden for the private sector. All without public sector job cuts. It is e-government at its most effective.

The major obstacle in getting the legislation changed has always been the lobbying power of the local newspapers, who have convinced successive governments not to take away their subsidy. We hope this petition can get around their lobbying power.