Top tips for getting involved

Here are our top tips for community involvement in public budgeting:

Get more informed
Public budgets can seem like a confusing subject at first sight. But we all experienced budgeters every day in our work and at home. Balancing our income and expenditure, deciding our priorities, balancing competing needs and wants, saving for the future or enjoying life now.

You can use the same skills to make choices over public money too. On this website and in many other places people have knowledge and experience and will be willing to share it. Begin to ask questions. Such as asking your council how you can get involved. Get in touch with other communities already with experience of participatory budgeting (add links to our forums, toolkits etc).

If you want specific training or information Trafford Hall run some excellent courses for social housing tenants and residents groups and community groups or contact the PB Unit.

Get more organised
You can be more effective if you work with others. There are many organisations, such as clubs, community organisations and voluntary organisations where people come together already. Often they are in turn linked to together, perhaps through a neighbourhood forum, community empowerment network or Council for Voluntary Service.

Taking part in these groups and networks means you can find out about  opportunities to have your say, and ensure you don’t miss your chance to participate.

Identify what matters most to you
Is it better to spend money on old people or young people? On more police or protecting the environment? On education to prevent illness or healthcare after you become ill? Taking decisions can be a difficult thing when everyone has their own view and wants their say.

Participatory budgeting will offer you a way to have conversations with others working for the benefit of your community or neighbourhood. The aim of participatory budgeting is to spend time understanding the issues and then deciding together on the solutions.

Talk with your local council
Ask your local council if they are experimenting with participatory budgeting and how you can get involved in improving services. Look on their website to find our how local people are currently involved. If you are in a regeneration area talk to the people spending money in your area.

There may be regular area forums or other public meetings organised by the council. In more rural areas there will often be a parish council to go to. Your local library is always a good place to start to find out who to speak to, as are community centres and your local Council for Voluntary Service.

Talk with your local councillors
Local councillors are elected to represent the whole community in your local council area. They have access to important knowledge and make many decisions that affect local services. Ask them how you can become involved in improve services. Express your desire to have your voice heard and promote the opportunities through greater participation by all.

Talk with the PB Unit
The PB Unit exists to support the development of participatory democracy through involvement in public budgets. We are the leading organisations supporting councils and communities interested in participatory budgeting. 

Talk to central government
Participatory budgeting is being promoting by Communities and Local Government, the government department responsible for improving local councils and local services and making stronger communities.

They are doing this through supporting the PB Unit and also through changes to regulations and laws, such as the  Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, Community Empowerment White Paper, the Sustainable Communities Act and a national PB Strategy. You can read the strategy send your views by clicking the link here