In Tower Hamlets, a Participatory Budgeting project known as “You Decide!” was carried out across the whole Borough in 2009 and 2010. The Cabinet allocated £2.38 million per year for a two year period (total of £4.76 million) with £300,000 added by the local Primary Care Trust (PCT) in year two. A total of over… Read More
Health
The role of Participatory Budgeting in health and wellbeing
TravelSMART funds £1m of community transport projects in Surrey
Surrey County Council have been using Participatory Budgeting to share £1m of funding between various communities in Surrey. The aim of the TravelSMART community funding is to make the county a better place for residents, by improving public transport, encouraging cycling and cutting carbon emissions. Harris Vallianatos, Sustainable Transport Officer at Surrey County Council recently… Read More
Your Community, Your Health, Your Voice in Southampton
Your Community, Your Health is a health themed participatory budgeting project in Thornhill, Southampton. Thornhill’s Community Health Group, comprising residents and agency representatives from Southampton City Council, Southampton City PCT and Thornhill Plus You, oversaw an annual funding stream provided by the PCT to tackle health inequalities in Thornhill. They first explored the idea of… Read More
International learning visits that drive innovation in Public Services
Photo: Liz Tapner of SELNET meeting Danish Visitors, March 2014 In collaboration with Strategihuset, a Danish consultancy promoting cooperation and dialogue between civil society representatives and public welfare organizations, PBPartners runs regular international learning tours for senior public sector and non-profit leaders. These bring opportunities for sharing knowledge about the difficult changes facing the public… Read More
British Academy report proposes Participatory Budgeting can reduce health inequalities
"If you could do one thing…" Nine local actions to reduce health inequalities is a new report from the respected British Academy for Humanities and Social Sciences. One of its nine proposals is to use Participatory Budgeting (PB) to promote mental well-being in communities. In its report "the British Academy presents a collection of opinion… Read More
Canny wi’ Cash – Older People’s Participatory Budgeting
Older People Deciding on Grants for Older People. An inclusive process with the principles of co-production and resilience at its heart. Commenting on the experience, one of the Older People participating said: ‘Our voices are being heard at last.’ As part of Edinburgh’s ‘Reshaping Care for Older People – Change Fund’ Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council… Read More
Participatory Budgeting "thriving" in Trafford
Conservative run Trafford Council have been running Participatory Budgeting small grant programmes for a number of years in a variety of settings. Cllr Karen Barclay, chairman of the South Locality Partnership, commenting in the Trafford Messenger said: “We are really excited about this opportunity to support the voluntary work in south Trafford…the South Locality Partnership… Read More
Edinburgh positive about the impact of Participatory Budgeting
In a recent report on a range of Participatory Budgeting initiatives Edinburgh City Council recognises the positive impacts in terms of public approval for opportunities to have a say over budgets. Examining programmes like the award winning Leith Decides encouraged the council to continue to develop the approach, and it is trying PB in a… Read More
Richmond Fellowship Scotland: PB case study, 2013
The Richmond Fellowship Scotland has sent us the following report about their 2013 ‘Outcomes are Fun’ PB event. This is a report back about one of their four £20,000 processes, run and organised with members of their community. "The aim of the project was to give over control and creativity to vulnerable people to achieve… Read More
Newcastle were first in the country to do PB with Carers
In 2010 Newcastle piloted the use of a budget to support carers in the area using PB. In what is believed to be an England first, the carers themselves decided how money should best be spent to meet their needs, rather than council officers making the decisions for them. Carers from across the city met… Read More