PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING

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PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING

• INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
• Alan Budge PB Unit.

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WHAT IS PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING?

• Participatory Budgeting (PB) engages people in
  taking decisions on the spending priorities for a
  defined public budget in their local area. This
  means engaging residents and community groups to
  discuss spending priorities, make spending
  proposals, and vote on them, as well as giving
  local people a role in the scrutiny and
  monitoring of the process
• DCLG draft
  national PB strategy

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OR

• Local people decide how to allocate part of a
  public budget
• Participatory
  Budgeting Unit
• Values Principles
  and
  Standards draft consultation
• If it feels like we have decided ---- its PB.
  
• If it feels like someone else has decided,
  it isnt.
• Brazilian
  resident involved in PB

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HEALTH WARNING!

• Only a small percentage of any public budget will
  be allocated using PB
• The PB process is formally mandated and signed
  off by the elected legislature

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ORIGINS OF PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING

• Began in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1980s city of
  1.5m people
• End of military dictatorship and election of
  Workers Party
• Started small 2/3 of investment budget but
  built to up to 18
• Neighbourhood to region to city-wide assembly

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DEVELOPMENT OF PB

• Spread to 140 cities in Brazil
• Now in 300 cities worldwide, including Latin
  America, Canada, USA and 25 in Europe
• Identified as good practise by international
  institutions, including World Bank, UNESCO, OECD,
  UN Habitat prize, and DFID
• 30 authorities in UK now developing pilots
• Interest from 100 local authorities in all
• Strong support from government

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Main features of classic PB model

• of mainstream budget devolved for PB allocation
• Citizens meetings/votes on priorities, services
  and budgets
• Neighbourhood and thematic structures which link
  citywide
• Annual cycle and investment plan
• Budget Matrix and Budget Council

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The PB investment cycle
Local groups propose projects and decide
priorities
Investment into Communities
Technical analysis
Budget tables
Departmental budgets
Budget council report
Revenue Budget
Governing body
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The Budget Matrix
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Statistics eh?
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Statistics eh?
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Development of PB process

• In Porto Alegre, a 64 page Budget Matrix
  booklet is produced annually, which enjoys
  widespread circulation
• The desire for this level of information
  developed from the bottom up over a 25 year
  period
• You have to start somewhere

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PB PILOT ACTIVITY IN THE UK - 1

• A grants pot /initiative funding- community
  chest, NRF funds etc
• Bidders for the money present proposals to
  residents, who vote on which to support (eg
  Sunderland, Bradford, Newcastle)
• No annual cycle or link to mainstream
• But very effective at engaging/enthusing local
  people

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PB PILOT ACTIVITY IN THE UK -- 2

• Small scale mainstream allocation - where a
  specific amount of devolved money e.g.for
  environment, highways, community safety etc
  issues - is allocated by local citizens in a
  designated neighbourhood
• Presentation by local authority or other agency
• Examples Salford and Birmingham

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Potential Benefits of PB

• Engages more people and different people
• Better targeted and cost-effective services
• Consultation/engagement/involvement are
  inevitable by products of a PB process
• Strong social cohesion benefits
• Local ownership of projects/budgets/decisions

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More potential benefits of PB

• More mature debate about priorities can reshape
  relationship between elected members, officer,
  and residents
• Potential for higher tax-raising
• Develops budget literacy
• Greater transparency re public finances

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In order to make informed choices re eg 5 of
budget to be allocated by PB, residents need to
know how the other 95 is spent
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The participatory budget of Icapui, Brazil.
The left column reads, where the money comes
from. The one on the right reads, what the
money is spent for. Below it says, When the
administration is transparent, everything works
smoothly
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PB - issues to consider

• How does PB fit with existing democratic
  structures?
• Is/should PB be representative?
• Is the expense justified?
• Will PB raise unrealistic/unmanageable
  expectations?

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• Participatory Budgeting ---- is a tool
  which gives people a real and direct say about
  how funds are allocated, and helps them to take
  more ownership of their neighbourhood, to feel
  able to say this is my street, my estate and Im
  proud of it.
• Hazel
  Blears