Participatory Budgeting National Strategy Urban Forum Briefing

Participatory Budgeting: a national strategy Giving more people a say in local spending September 2008

Introduction Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a method for enabling citizens to decide how specific pots of public funding should be spent. It was first used in Porto Alegre in Brazil around 20 years ago and has now spread around the globe. PB is seen as one of “the practical ways to open up local government, to make public services more responsive to the people they serve, and to create more opportunities for people to give something back to their neighbourhood”. It is also part of the greater movement towards ‘participative democracy’ and transferring power, influence and control towards people and their communities. The Government wants to see PB being used in every local authority area by 2012 and sees new statutory duties such as the ‘Duty to Involve’ as giving significant momentum to aid this.

How does it work? PB is essentially about allocating a pot of money (or public budget) to the community and facilitating them through a process in which they discuss, vote, and finally prioritise how the money should be best spent.

Why Increase the use of participatory budgeting? PB is very much a local activity and therefore tailors local situations and circumstances. The benefits of PB seem to be far reaching and include bringing diverse people together and improving people’s understanding of the complexities of budget setting. The process can also improve the way local people, elected councilors, and council officers work together. PB has already been in various ways throughout England: • Specific grant pots: Neighbourhood Renewal Funding and New Deal for Communities programmes where money is managed within existing neighbourhood management structures. • Local area committees using funds for specific service delivery as a way to trail PB on core local authority activities.

Key elements of the national strategy There are four key elements to the Participatory Budgeting national strategy: • Promoting awareness • Creating opportunities • Providing guidance and support • Learning from evaluation and research

Promoting awareness The PB Unit, an independent project within Church Action on Poverty are being supported to undertake a number of activities to deliver the strategy: • Nationally: Communities and Local Government (CLG) and other national stakeholders have a number of high profile events lined up to celebrate successful projects and learning from the pilot areas. • Regionally: The Regional Empowerment Partnership (REP) as well as the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (RIEP) have an important role in promoting good practice within and between regions. Events and regional learning sets are planned for all regions. • Locally: Practical advice will be provided to local authorities and community groups (using the PB Unit’s toolkit and regional learning sets). • Networks: the PB Unit is working with a number of networks throughout the country to further promote and facilitate the process. The Unit is also very keen to hear from other organisations or individuals who are interested in promoting PB in their areas.

Creating opportunities The PB Unit and central government wish to encourage the use of PB in the following ways: • Via community governance partnership models where Parish or Town Councils for example have worked with local groups to produce a collective vision or action plan. • Local authorities working with local communities and businesses to prioritise the spending of the ‘Working Neighbourhoods Fund’. • As part of various established neighbourhood management systems focusing on community needs and linking local services with policing, health, and the involvement of young people. • Councils using their powers to allocate discretionary budgets to Councillors, with PB being a proportion of these.

Providing guidance and support The PB Unit has developed a number of publications and resources in order to ensure consistent advice. In particular, their recent publication “Participatory Budgeting: Values, Principles and Standards” promotes core standards such as accessibility, transparency, inclusiveness and ensuring proper deliberation. There is also a toolkit available for local authorities and community groups providing structure and further contacts.

Regulation and performance assessment From April 1, 2009 the statutory Duty to Involve will apply to all best value local authorities, requiring them to provide information, consult and involve local people, particularly the most excluded. PB has been highlighted as a useful mechanism for local authorities to consider and the Unit plan to both promote PB to assist with the duty. The Unit is also working closely with inspectorates to make sure that the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) evaluates the level and quality of public engagement in the improvement of local public services. Another way in which PB can be proposed (and as mentioned earlier) is through the new powers for Councillors ‘call to action’. Communities may use ‘calls for action’ or petitioning to encourage PB (as part of the Empowerment White Paper’s plans to introduce a duty for councils to respond to petitions).

Learning from evaluation and research The PB Unit is planning regular evaluation which they believe needs to cover issues such as the breadth of participation, the role of elected members and whether the project met its objectives. Evaluation should also assist with key National Performance Indicators for example whether PB increases the proportion of people who feel they can influence local decisions (National Indicator 4). The PB Unit will evaluate locally, nationally and internationally using their set of ‘common values, principles and standards’ and providing guidance on a common approach to assessment and data collection.

For more information Participatory Budgeting Unit: The PB Unit (part of the charity, Church Action on Poverty) promotes and coordinates the delivery of PB. The Unit is being funded by the government until 2012 to help deliver the strategy. www.participatorybudgeting.org.uk/ Improvement and Development Agency’s (IDeA) – “The Participatory Budgeting Unit’s evaluation of PB pilots” - report of 167 local authorities understanding the experience of PB: www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core Responses to the national PB Consultation: www.communities.gsi.gov.uk/communities/communityempowerment

Case Studies: Bringing back birds and greening a Newcastle village ‘U-Decide projects’: www.newcastle.gov.uk/udecide#what More case studies at www.participatorybudgeting.org.uk/ Kate Hathway November 2008