COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (068) issued by The Government News Network
on 19 March 2008
Communities
Secretary Hazel Blears has set out a new draft strategy for
consultation today to give people in every local authority area a
greater say on how public money is spent by 2012, including
exploring for the first time using 'community kitties'
for projects to fight crime and tackle obesity.
In a major speech on empowering communities she called on local
authorities, community groups and the public to give their views
on expanding plans for participatory budgeting across Whitehall
including policing, health and youth services giving people a
greater say over the issues they most care about. Ideas will be
developed through the forthcoming community empowerment white
paper in the summer and will explore:
* Giving people a direct influence over how cash pots to tackle
crime and anti-social behaviour in their area are spent. These
schemes will bring communities together to take a stand against
unacceptable behaviour and make sure the police and local
authorities tackle their main concerns.
* The potential for using kitties to get more people involved in
commissioning local community health services, building on
pioneering work by Southampton PCT.
* And the Department for Children, Schools and Families will be
building on the positive contribution young people are already
making through the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds,
influencing local youth and leisure activities, particularly in
the most disadvantaged areas. They aim by 2018 that young people
will have a direct say in a quarter of all money spent on things
to do and places to go for young people.
The strategy also sets out for the first time how councils can
give this opportunity to people in every local area by 2012.
Pioneered in Brazil 'community kitties' or
participatory budgeting involves local people in spending
decisions through public meetings and votes to set local
priorities and fund projects and services.
22 local authorities across the country have signed up as pilots
under the Government's drive ranging from a few thousand to
several million pounds. The new strategy announced by Ms Blears
will show how nearly 400 councils in England can use this approach
and meet her ambition for every principal local authority to take
this up by 2012, giving people greater ownership of their
neighbourhoods, and shaping services around their needs.
Research shows that using kitties improves local services,
increases public satisfaction and can even boost civic pride and
community cohesion by bringing local people together. Further
pilots are expected in the next few months.
Ms Blears also said that using community kitties will be one way
for councils to show they are meeting the powerful new duty to
involve local people in all key decisions coming into force in
April 2009.
Hazel Blears said:
"Local people that use services day in day out know how they
need to be improved, whether tackling gangs and crime, giving
young people places to play or improving leisure activities and
the local environment.
"But 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.
"This new strategy shows how councils can make greater use
of community kitties both across the country and into the services
people care about most so that every local area can benefit from
this opportunity by 2012. This consultation is inviting views from
councils and communities on how to achieve this.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:
"The police are a vital part of every community. We know the
public want a visible and accessible police service that addresses
local priorities. That is why Neighbourhood Policing is so
important, as it will give local people a say in policing in their
communities. In partnership with the police, we will look at how
the use of shared pots of money can address some of these local
community needs - and this is another step forward in empowering
people to have a greater role in shaping their communities."
The strategy follows the recently announced Crime and Communities
Review, a cross-government exercise led by Louise Casey looking at
how the police and other front-line agencies can improve their
services by working more closely with local communities, including
interactive public events in Manchester Birmingham and Sheffield.
Hazel Blears also called for more businesses to recognise the
benefit both to themselves and to local communities of providing
financial and management expertise to help community groups take
over and run public buildings.
Leading businesses such as John Laing, Royal Bank of Scotland,
NatWest and law firm Dechert are already using their expertise to
assist community ventures directly, and Business in the
Community's ProHelp scheme enables a further 1000
professional firms to offer free help. But so much more could be done.
Local groups taking on the management or development of public
assets face particularly demanding challenges, as they often find
the management and financial know-how needed to run and develop
such projects a major obstacle. This is one way businesses can
help, by offering their know-how to strengthen the viability of
local projects.
Hazel Blears said:
"If you've got a run-down community centre on your
estate, always being vandalised, why not hand it over for
residents to run? If local lads can see and feel that it's
theirs, they'll be the first to look after it. Get it right
and transferred buildings can be the home to services that better
meet the needs of the whole community.
"But making a success of asset transfer means much more than
just picking up the keys. To keep going in the long term community
groups need to build strong partnerships and develop their
business acumen. That's why I want more businesses to get
involved at a local level, as this can open doors to new
opportunities for those communities while widening the experience
of their own workforce."
Notes to Editors:
The consultation closes on Tuesday 10 June and we are asking for
evidence to shape the forthcoming Empowerment White Paper and the
policies which flow from it. For more information see: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/participatorybudgeting
The strategy also sets out important principles for community
kitties to ensure they involve all sections of the local
community, and are not dominated by minority interests.
Participants should also be encouraged to make informed decisions
having looked at detailed evidence. The pilot projects have showed
a range of examples where participants have voted for projects and
services that do not directly benefit their area, ethnicity or age
group but are in the best interest of the community as a whole.
Established participatory budgeting pilots across England are
already demonstrating the effectiveness of participatory budgeting
across the services. Investments include £8,800 on improving local
allotments to £2,200 on outdoor activities for young people like
orienteering and climbing.
Case Studies:
* Newcastle has two participatory budgeting pilots. Residents in
the area decide on the spending priorities on liveability,
"safer, greener, cleaner" and children's and young
people's services in the locality, with funding for the pilot
from Communities and Local Government's Neighbourhood Renewal
Fund. The pilots are part of the City Council's Engagement Strategy.
* Bradford Vision's pilots include the Keighly project which
engages local people to decide spending priorities on liveability
issues. Services are also commissioned and monitored by a group
of local delegates. Bradford Vision's pilots have
collectively allocated over £1m of spending.
* Sunderland's PB pilot, "The People's Fund"
is part of the 'Back on the Map' New Deal for
Communities project. It involves residents in deciding to fund
projects focusing on young people, older people, ethnic
minorities, celebrating life, and small grants and has an annual
pot of £50k. Sunderland also used a PB process to re-profile the
spending from a £23m pot from their New Deal for Communities
scheme, of which £2.35m was re profiled.
* Salford's PB pilot involved local people in deciding on
allocating around £100k funding on highways services. The PB
projects fit into a city wide framework for local community engagement.
* Lewisham's pilot has been developed by the voluntary
sector as a small grants programme. The criteria for funding was
linked to the Local Area Agreement with the focus on Stronger
Community indicators, covering young people, volunteering,
cohesion, diversity and deprivation.
News Releases: http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsroom