Models of PB

Community Grants

This is the most common model of PB in the UK at present, and the model originally adopted by the pilots in 2005.  It usually involves small pots of money that may have already been identified for community grants, and involving residents in voting for which community projects should receive the funding. 

Due to the local nature of the process, that community and voluntary groups are receiving funding and it doesn't really impact on service provision, it's a good way to start involving the community with budgets.  The voting events are often high energy and very positive and with the funded projects being delivered in a relatively short space of time, means that the connection between the vote and the outcome is clear and tangible.  This helps to increase participation levels.  It also enables councillors and officers to become more familiar with the process without risking larger or core budgets.

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The 1% budget, or top slicing

 This is an approach which advocates top slicing a percentage of a public body's investment budget to be allocated by citizens across a range of services and the local organisation's catchment area.   The budget may be then devolved to wards or area committees or may be kept at the broader level.  A budget matrix or cycle linked to the main budget cycle may also be adopted.  Usually the budget is used for reinvestment in services that the public organisation provides or commissions. 

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Pooled budgets

This approach involves citizens in allocating pooled budgets from a range of providers on a particular theme or neighbourhood.  Typically, the budgets will be reallocated to the organisations or services involved in the original pooled budgets, rather than to community groups. The aim is to make address a particular issue or a neighbourhood from the citizen perspective rather than the individual perspective and thereby provide a more coherent and tailored suite of services meeting the community's (of practice) needs.   These approaches are more closely aligned with the original Brazilian model and may involve other techniques such as community-led commissioning, community planning and the budget matrix. 

neighbourhood

These are pooled budgets at the neighbourhood level which are allocated using PB. 

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services

These are pooled budgets on a particular theme, issue or community of interest which are allocated using PB.

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Sectors

Since the original PB pilots in 2005-2007, PB has grown dramatically, both in terms of numbers of organisations using it and in the types of organisations.  When the pilots began, they were exclusively councils and the majority of our resources were aimed at councils.  Increasingly, other public sector organisations have picked up and implemented PB and we felt the need to feature information, expertise and resources specific to them.  Each sector may adopt one or more of the above models of PB, but with a sector specific twist to them.  Or they may also develop their own models. 

children and young people

There have been a number of initiatives aimed specifically at children and young people, but it's yet to really develop in broad sense in this sector.  However, there are quite specific issues around learning and development, vulnerability and citizenship specific to this sector.

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town and parish

The local council sector has been a real growth area for PB recently.  The ability to raise precepts, the relationship that the non-statutory councils have with their communities and the discussions about which level services are best delivered, makes for some really innovative PB initiatives.  The local reach of town and parish councils has also meant that PB is no longer only for urban areas, but is now being implemented in rural areas too.

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police

Since the Lyons report in 2008, which recommended using PB as a way of integrating neighbourhood policing with neighbourhood management, PB has become prolific in police forces.  The Home Office implemented three separate pilot programmes utilising PB: Community Safety PB pilots, The Engaged Communities Hallmark and PB with Violence Against Women and Girls funding.  Beyond the Home Office pilots, police forces have been involved either as partners to council-led PB initiatives, or developing their own initiatives.  

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housing

The housing sector has a longer history of community engagement than most other public sectors, due to the requirement to involve tenants in issues which affect them.  A number of housing association and Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMOs) have already implemented PB, particularly around environmental improvements budgets. 

Given that housing is one of the few sectors that can generate income through rents, there is greater security and freedom in the funding than in the rest of the public sector, and provides an excellent opportunity to implement PB. 

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wellbeing

There is a high level of synergy between wellbeing and PB.  This has been recognised by a handful of initiatives, however, health and social care, in particular has remained a sector that has yet to really implement PB.  We believe therer are considerable opportunitites for PB under the 'wellbeing' banner, not least because it's being given a higher profile through the wellbeing indicators. 

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