A SPECIAL committee may be established at Clackmannanshire Council to hear petitions directly from members of the public.

The proposed panel would be made up of elected representatives, who would then steer a decision on how each matter is dealt with.

Individual "service committees" had previously been charged with hearing such matters, with the remit later passed to full meetings of Clackmannanshire Council.

However, the new Petitions Committee – if approved – would take on these responsibilities.

The plan will be considered by the full meeting of Clackmannanshire Council on Thursday, October 5.

Council papers, prepared in advance of the meeting, read: "The Petitions Committee would report on every petition, in respect of which it had heard representations, to council with its recommendation on how the petition should be disposed of.

The document added: "A Petitions Committee will provide a more suitable forum for interacting with petitioners and will ensure that petitioners are given the opportunity for greater discussion of petitions."

It is proposed that eight councillors be appointed to the committee with a political make-up of four SNP members, two Labour members and one Conservative, with the final spot taken by either the Green councillor or Independent councillor.

The political balance would be in line with the agreement made at a statutory meeting in May this year.

Councillors would be asked to take into account any involvement they might have with a particular petition when serving on the committee – especially those matters that concern their ward only.

However, they may still have the opportunity to make representations on matters as part of their duties as ward councillors.

Council papers read: "Any elected member sitting on the Petitions Committee should consider their responsibilities as set out in the Councillors' Code of Conduct, in terms of their involvement with any petition submitted, particularly where the petition solely concerns their ward.

"It is also recognised that councillors have an important role in representing ward matters; therefore, they may wish to make representations on any petitions submitted solely relating to their ward."

Criteria for petitions, and the methods to submit them, will likely remain unchanged if the committee is established.

Matters can be raised by individual members of the public or by Wee County businesses.

Petitioners must reside in Clackmannanshire and all signatories – fellow members of the public or businesses who support the petition – must all live in the council area.

For a matter to be considered by the council, it must have at least 250 signatories or the backing of five other Clacks businesses.

Some areas are excluded from public petitions, including matters relating to licensing decisions, requests to overturn recent council decisions, objections to planning applications and others.