Scope of PB activity
Three main areas have been identified as being within scope for PB.
Grants
Grants are funds given for particular projects or to meet a particular need in the community. This has been the traditional historic focus of PB projects and the Council has developed considerable experience in the successful delivery of a number of grant-based initiatives, including £eith Chooses. Given the comparatively modest size of grants budgets relative to the Council’s overall expenditure, however, there is a need to expand the approach to consider how citizens’ voices can better influence the allocation of existing resources across frontline services.
Mainstream services
Mainstream PB enables the direct participation of citizens in local financial decision-making, resource allocation and service design, moving beyond allocating individual budgets or identifying separate budgets for community engagement and consultation. It can be used alongside other models of community engagement as part of a strategic approach to advancing participatory democracy alongside representative democracy and public sector reform. There are also several wider benefits to local democracy associated with running mainstream participatory budgeting. It can help to improve the democratic process by widening participation and re-invigorating the role of local authorities, local councillors and civic society. It can contribute to the effectiveness of public spending by improving the way money is invested by increasing the knowledge available to the local authority when undertaking service planning. As shown in the diagram below, PB should be empowering of local communities, inclusive of diverse groups not traditionally involved in decision-making, focused upon dialogue and deliberation as part of decision-making and result in meaningful outcomes for local communities and people.
Commissioning (services designed to meet the needs of specific end users)
Input into all parts of the commissioning cycle by communities is widely recognised to deliver better outcomes overall. By recognising the involvement of communities in decision making the Council is recognising the value in the skills, knowledge and experience that communities bring, including that awareness of local activity and need. By sharing the decision-making from the beginning of the process, communities are transformed from passive recipients of services into communities with power over the resources for their community. Done well, participatory budgeting can improve service outcomes and transform communities into equal partners in designing and delivering services. To do so, the Council needs to provide accessible processes and support participation by offering a range of accessible ways in which they can contribute, enabling them to work in reciprocal relationships with professionals and with each other.