Greater Manchester Police participatory budgeting event in 2014
The Economy Watch website has recently published a review of the role of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). In their report they highlight that too few PCC’s are embracing participation in budgets as a way to raise their profile.
As the April 2016 report indicates in various passages:
"Voters across 40 police force areas in England and Wales will go to the polls next month to choose their next police and crime commissioner (PCC). This is the second round of such elections. The first cohort of 41 PCCs were elected in November 2012 against a backdrop of widespread fears about the “politicisation” of the police. As a result, turnout was extremely low (at 15.1%) and in a significant minority of contests “independent” PCCs triumphed over those standing on a party ticket."
"Where a mayoral model is proposed under the chancellor’s “devolution deals”, several budgets will be aligned with those that sit under a PCC, including transport, business support and in the case of Greater Manchester, the NHS. The ability to bring together budgets and reconfigure services to break down professional silos is welcome."
"It is disappointing that more PCCs have not embraced participatory budgeting models for example…. In a context of decreased resources and major social and technological change, we need to have the difficult debate about what the police should be prioritising."
The situation is not totally empty of good examples though. On this website we have pointed to a number of successful experiences where PCC’s have tried PB, as have the Police services.
- Read the full article on the Economy Watch website
- Review our examples of police led PB on this website
