More neighbourhoods to get a 'community kitty'

Published	4 December 2007

The number of areas where people are given a direct say in how council money is spent is to more than double, Hazel Blears announced today (4th December).

The Communities Secretary said that residents in a further 12 areas of the country would get the chance to access their own 'community kitty' to spend on tackling the issues they think are most important in their own neighbourhood.

Ms Blears said this radical new way of working would revive local democracy and participation by giving people a say in local decisions. She wants all local authorities to employ this practice within five years and the new areas mark important progress towards that goal.

Ten pilots for the scheme, heralded by Ms Blears as a real shift in power or 'devolution to the doorstep', are already underway across the country ranging from Sunderland to Lewisham. Residents in these areas are already getting a chance to have their say on funding priorities for their neighbourhood ranging from community wardens to tackle anti-social behaviour, new play areas for local children or better transport solutions.

They will now be joined by Thanet, Wiltshire, Dartford, Sefton, Cornwall, Lancaster, Mansfield, Suffolk, Leicester, Wirral, Reigate & Banstead and Buckinghamshire. All these councils have volunteered to work with residents so local people can take decisions on spending priorities for part of the council's budget.

First pioneered in Brazil, 'participatory budgeting' gives communities the ability to take control of budgets through community-led debates, neighbourhood votes and public meetings. It includes training for local people on how local council budgets work and how priorities are set.

Ms Blears said:

"Local people know their area better than anyone and want a direct say over how to tackle the issues that matter most to them from improving playgrounds, to dealing with litter, better standards of housing or taking action against anti-social behaviour.

"Too few people feel able to make a difference in their local area. Giving them more power over decisions on issues that affect them directly is a practical and modern way to get people involved with local democracy.

"There are some in local government who believe giving local people a say is a threat to their legitimacy - nothing could be further from the truth. Listening to the concerns and priorities of the people who use local services can only strengthen our local democracy."

The new pilots will not only expand and accelerate the move towards participatory budgeting ('community kitty'), but will also contribute to efforts at both central and local government level to deliver on the vision of shifting power from the centre, involving more people in the decision making process and bringing about what the Prime Minister has called 'a reinvention of the way we govern'.

Hazel Blears announced the 12 new pilot areas today (4th December) during a visit to a flagship community empowerment area, Perry Common in Birmingham. The Perry Common neighbourhood has been transformed over recent years with the active participation of local residents and partner organisations making it one of the best examples in the country. Birmingham is also on of the first round of community kitty pilots, involving residents in spending decisions at the nearby Erdington ward.

Notes to editors:

What is Participatory Budgeting?

Participatory Budgeting (PB) engages with local people to take decisions on the spending priorities for a part of a public budget in their local area. It must be conducted on an inclusive basis, and can help bring about a change in the relationship between communities, elected councillors and local authorities. The Local Government White Paper identified PB as a key tool for empowering local people and this was reinforced in the recently launched Community Empowerment Action Plan. It could also be a important method to help LAs implement the Best Value Duty to inform, consult, and involve as set out in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act.Participatory Budgeting helps people understand the complexities of public budget setting; helps bring diverse people together, supporting community cohesion and can lead to real improvements in the way local people work with elected officials.Communities and Local Government is part funding the Participatory Budgeting Unit, a third sector organisation run by Church Action on Poverty to help raise awareness of PB and provide advice and guidance to practitioners and citizens.

The New Pilots

Thanet
To apply PB to a small grants scheme from the Community Services Directorate, for community projects and events and support for the voluntary sector. Initially using around £51k.

Wiltshire
In its transition to a unitary authority, Wiltshire County Council will be experimenting with Participatory Budgeting processes under new governance arrangements.

Dartford
Plans to allocate a small pot of around £30,000 of council's housing tenants' budgets via PB, for housing environment issues, and looking to develop this if possible.

Sefton
Currently developing plans.

Cornwall
To develop PB along with local partners in the process of becoming a unitary authority, possibly using some devolved budgets linked to their "community network areas".

Lancaster
Well advanced plans to use a small pot of funds in the Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder scheme for community based projects related to the Safer, Stronger communities theme.

Mansfield
Further develop existing engagement activities into a PB project.

Suffolk
Still developing plans for a project, possibly to support their Pathfinder status.

Leicestershire
To gradually develop their community forums and budget consultation processes to move to PB.

Wirral
Currently considering doing PB with their Community Initiative Fund, money allocated through the area forums for activities of benefit to the local area.

Reigate and Banstead
Looking to use section 106 monies, and other sources, for PB within their "Local Community Action Plan" process across the borough. Targetted areas to include new neighbourhood areas in Horley.

Buckingham-Shire County Council
The scheme will be an extension of the work already happening and it likely to focus on transportation, although they are considering a number of different areas at this stage.

Existing Pilots

Newcastle has two participatory budgeting pilots. Residents in the area decide on the spending priorities on liveability, "safer, greener, cleaner" and children's and young people's services in the locality, with funding for the pilot from CLG's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. The pilots are part of the City Council's Engagement Strategy.
Bradford Vision's pilots include the Keighley project which engages local people to decide spending priorities on liveability issues. Services are also commissioned and monitored by a group of local delegates. Bradford Vision's pilots have collectively allocated over £1M of spending.
Sunderland's PB pilot, "The People's Fund" was a New Deal for Communities programme. It initially involved residents in deciding on funding priorities for themes such as crime, transport, young people and drugs and allocated an initial small grants pot of £30K. Sunderland also used a PB process to re-profile the spending from a £23M pot from their New Deal for Communities scheme, of which £2.35M was re-profiled.
Salford's PB pilot involved local people in deciding on allocating around £100K funding on highways services. The PB projects fit into a city wide framework for local community engagement.
Manton: £50k per year distributed as part of the Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder, the Manton Community Alliance.
Lewisham's pilot has been developed by the voluntary sector as a small grants programme. The criteria for funding were linked to the Local Area Agreement with the focus on Stronger Community indicators, covering young people, volunteering, cohesion, diversity and deprivation.

The other PB pilots are:

a ward based PB pilot in the borough of St Helens;
PB on a civic pride project of £1M with Mersey Waterfront regeneration partnership;
work with Southampton Primary Care Trust;
a project in Birmingham to use £2m on environmental projects across several neighbourhoods;

Empowering the People - What the Government has done:

Empowerment Champions 18 local authorities act as empowerment champions to spearhead a reinvigoration of local democracy. Selected because of the pioneering work they have already done in involving local people, these authorities will work with Government to drive change across the country. They will encourage other areas and councils to devolve more power by demonstrating the results that they have achieved across a diverse range of neighbourhoods. They are: Lewisham, Southwark, Portsmouth, Brighton, Plymouth, Wiltshire, Ipswich, Great Yarmouth, Nottingham, High Peak, Sheffield, East Riding, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Newcastle and North Tyneside, Cumbria and Salford.

A bigger say for young people in spending decisions. By 2010 local authorities will be able to devolve up to five per cent of their budget for youth services with young people deciding how that money is spent. By 2018, young people could actively shape decisions on one quarter of these budgets.

More assets to communities. Encouraging councils to transfer under-used or empty buildings to community use. The Government accelerated this process this week by extending the number of demonstration areas by 14 to 34 and promising this will rise to 80 within two years.

Petitions. The Government wants to find ways to give more power to people to trigger action on their priorities by raising the status of petitions and ensure that where people put their time and energy behind a cause or concern that time is not wasted.

A concordat between central and local government that will shape the future relationship between central and local government. A concordat is being developed with the Local Government Association which should establish for the first time an agreement on the rights and responsibilities of local government, including its responsibilities to provide effective leadership of local areas and to empower local communities wherever possible.

Shaping policy through Citizens Juries on community cohesion (the importance of English language) and housing growth. The first of a series of juries will be held by Communities and Local Government in the coming months with views being sought on these two vital issues.

Duty to Involve From 1 April 2009 (subject to parliamentary approval) a new duty will require local authorities to inform, consult and involve local people in local decisions, policies and services. Local people will know what services are on offer, how the authority is performing and how they can have their say.