The next £eith decides decision-making event is on 7 February 2015 at Leith Community Education Centre. The Leith Neighbourhood Partnership have handed over the decision-making on the allocation £22,092, in grants of up to £1,000, to the people of Leith. Leith Decides has been a long running and successful example from Scotland of residents deciding on small grants… Read More
Themes
The central themes dealt with by Participatory Budgeting
Byker Community Trust allocates £140k for community initiatives in 2015
Byker Community Trust (BCT) is a registered Social Housing provider in Newcastle, created through a community led stock transfer of 1,800 properties in 2012. On Sept 12th 2014 submissions closed for community based projects that will be funded in 2015 through participatory budgeting (PB) . The funding is aimed at making Byker a better place… Read More
Tulse Hill Community Led PB programme for reducing fear of crime
The votes have been counted in Tulse Hill’s first PB event. Eight pots of £400 were awarded as part of a program aimed at reducing the fear of crime. 80 local residents turned up to vote for 13 groups. The Tulse Hill Together Project was organised by the Tulse Hill Forum and funded by Lambeth Council. It… Read More
You Say, We Pay… Participatory Budgeting in Stockport
In 2010 Stockport Council began using Participatory Budgeting(PB) in neighbourhoods such as Brinnington. This short film records some of the early processes they used, and the positive reactions of local people. In later years Stockport Council has continued to use PB in a variety of ways, including with businesses and in other localities. To find… Read More
Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner mobilises 700 residents to get involved
Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner John Dyer recently trusted residents of Grange in Runcorn with part of his budget, and the results have paid off. In a recent press release it is reported… The ten projects with the highest number of votes by the community of The Grange in Runcorn were announced at a packed… Read More
What happened when the city of Boston asked teenagers for help with the budget
In the USA they take a more direct approach to their politics. This report, from Hollie Russon Gilman describes a recent initiative in Boston that has re-energised youth participation and changed the way the budget is decided. This extract shows that Boston remains at the forefront of democratic innovation, hunderds of years after that memorable… Read More
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
PB Partners joins the Big Local spring roadshow
PB Partners will be presenting workshops on community led PB as part of the upcoming round of Big Local Trust Roadshows. Participatory Budgeting has been used successfully in a number of Big Local groups, from Devon and Cornwall in the South West up to Oldham in the North. As part of an ongoing connection with… Read More
Rusholme residents vote in Manchester City Council funded U-Decide
As reported in the Manchester Community Central e-bulletin, Manchester City Council have money to invest in the Rusholme area to support projects that will benefit the local community.Groups may submit an application up to a maximum value of £2,000 and all project ideas must benefit the Rusholme Community. Project ideas must be submitted by 23… Read More
Policy briefs from the PB Network
The PB Network has produced two in the first of a series of policy briefs. These short introductions to Participatory Budgeting are designed to highlight opportunities to develop more meaningful citizen engagement. The two new briefings are on; Citizen Led Commissioning, through using a PB Matrix, a way of embedding PB into public sector budget… Read More