Research shows PB does empower communities

“the bite in PB is that it is not a simple consultation device but an exercise in deliberative participatory democracy that empowers citizens to make a significant contribution to public spending decisions.  Participatory budgeting is about deliberative mechanisms set-up to delegate power or influence over public budgets and investment priorities to citizens.”  (p.98)

The publication 'Empowering communities to influence local decision making' was published by CLG on 1st June.  The research found, that out of six different empowerment mechanisms (petitions, redress, e-participation, asset transfer, participatory budgeting and citizen governance) only two demonstrated wider community empowerment.  These were participatory budgeting and citizen governance. 

The research was undertaken by De Montford and Southampton Universities and consisted of systematising written evidence on six different empowerment mechanisms.  The research was commissioned by CLG but was largely independent

The research found that the empowerment benefits of PB were:

• Building capacity of individuals in the complexities of public budget setting and political skills more generally
  
• Enhanced impact on local decision making
  
• It provides a better focus on issues of social exclusion and neighbourhood renewal, bringing clear benefits to the poorest neighbourhood
• mproving relations between citizen and counci
• Bringing diverse people together
  
• Cost efficient improvements in service deliver
• Cost efficient improvements in service delivery

Out of the six empowerment mechanisms PB was the only one found to have real potential to redistribute resources to those most in need.

It also concluded that there were no key universal factors that influenced the outcomes of PB. Rather its greatest success was found when PB principles were adopted but the processes were designed to reflect local considerations.

“the secrets of success are more local and internal to the design, agency and citizens engaged in PB. “ (p.109)

However, the research cautioned that for PB to really provide empowerment benefits that a transformative approach needed to be taken.  Tokenistic expressions which only use small budgets on the fringes of mainstream activity have the potential to fail.

“In order for such transformation change to be achieved, PB has to be open to all, focused on a meaningful and important issue and be part of a wider dynamic of change that enjoys support both locally and within a national framework.” (p.109)

The research provides some real evidence in favour of PB for those considering PB but are concerned about barriers and also some key points that should be considered by practitioners as they implement and refine their PB processes.

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