This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Hold a debate into the roles, powers and influence of special advisors.
Hold a debate on the role and influence of special advisors and the impact of these upon UK governance including accountability, transparency, communications, & policy development.
The debate should consider binding guidance and limitations upon role and powers of special advisors going forward.
More details
Petitions on appointments are not allowed. This petition is compliant as is not seeking an employment decision - it us asking parliament to debate and investigate the role of special advisors in UK governance and their powers, roles and influence with a view to clearer guidance, greater democratic accountability, and reinforcing government and policy development by Cabinet supported by the Civil Service rather than small other groupings. The UK public expects transparency and accountability.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
We understand that you are concerned about the role of special advisers, but it's not clear exactly what you want the Government or House of Commons to do about this.
Your petition requests a debate, but also calls for the consideration of binding guidance and limitations upon the role of special advisers going forward.
There is already a Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, although it is not legally binding: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-advisers-code-of-conduct
You could start a petition calling for the Code of Conduct to be reviewed and put on a statutory footing, if that is what you want to happen.
We have also published the following petition, which you might like to sign:
Make appointments of special advisers subject to parliamentary approval: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/323054
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.