First steps to participatory budgeting

20 Mar 08
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has launched a draft strategy on participatory budgeting, aiming to give members of the public more say in how public money is spent.

21 March 2008

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has launched a draft strategy on participatory budgeting, aiming to give members of the public more say in how public money is spent.

Under the plans, published on March 19, local people could decide how dedicated 'community kitties' are spent, or be involved in spending decisions covering elements of local authority, police or NHS budgets by 2012.

The proposals draw on the experience of participatory budgeting pilots in 22 local authorities, covering sums of money ranging from a few thousand to several million pounds.

The government will examine how people could influence the way funding to tackle crime is spent locally and how community kitties could get people involved in commissioning community health services. The results of the consultation will feed into the government's community empowerment white paper later this year.

Blears said: 'Community kitties don't just lead to better services, they give local people the opportunity to influence the future of the place where they live, generate civic pride and bring our communities together with a common purpose.'

Chris Lawrence-Petroni, director of corporate strategy at the Local Government Association, said councils would be 'keen to explore' the scope of participatory budgeting 'as part of a wider attempt to engage people' in local decision-making.

But the move was attacked as a 'patronising half-measure' by Liberal Democrat local government spokeswoman Julia Goldsworthy. 'If ministers were serious about devolved funding, they'd release their suffocating grip on local government and give local authorities greater freedom to raise and spend money,' she said.

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