Did you know?

There will be more content added to this section over time, but until that happens, here are some quick fun facts about PB.

In June 2011 so many people (over 800) took part in a PB event in Stanley, Co Durham that the results of the vote had to be postponed to the following week … and that 650 people turned out the year before at an event in Whitby, North Yorks.
There have been around 150 PB initiatives in the UK to date.
So far, over £28 million has been allocated through PB processes in the UK.
PB ‘budgets’ have varied from £500 to £4.8m and most points in between.
PB has been delivered at local, district, borough and county council levels as well as by social housing organisations, police authorities and even a fire and rescue service.
Contrary to expectation, PB often delivers ‘disinterested’ decision making. One community group in High Wycombe didn’t even vote for its own project, as they thought other local initiatives being proposed were of more benefit to the community,
PB is great at building community cohesion. There have been a number of projects where groups that have been allocated funding have returned some of the money to the “pot” in order to support other ideas to improve their communities.
The level of identification with the political party supporting PB in Porto Alegre (the ‘birthplace’ of PB, in Brazil) increased from less than 5% to 46%. (Elected Members please note!).
As part of a participatory budgeting process, some parish councils have voted to increase their precept in order to protect local services under threat from public expenditure cuts.
In Dulverton, a town council in Somerset, eight different public authorities have been involved in the local PB initiative. Funding has been contributed by the Town Council, the Primary Care Trust, the District Council, the local housing association and the regional fire and rescue service.
A community group of young Asian women was awarded £3k by residents, at a PB event in Keighley, West Yorks, and went on to receive £60k of Big Lottery funding on the back of their PB bid.
In a small number of schools, pupils have been given the responsibility of deciding how part of their school budget should be spent via a PB project.
In Herefordshire, as a direct result of PB at parish and town council level, local people will be given a say in the prioritisation of the county council’s budget next year.
Finally, in Newcastle (where there have been many projects) last year, PB even got a mention in a school nativity play!!

Document Actions

Copyright 2007, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. Ruth. (2011, October 11). Did you know?. Retrieved February 22, 2012, from Participatory Budgeting Unit Web site: http://www.participatorybudgeting.org.uk/outcomes/did-you-know. All Rights Reserved.

Newsletter: Newsletter

E-mail address (Required); Newsletter

The People's Budget

News: Get involved with The People's Budget! Feb 21, 2012; PB Unit rolling out masterclasses Jan 27, 2012; Miles Platting Decided Nov 18, 2011; Recycling with You Choose in Tameside Nov 14, 2011; Over to Youth a success in Fife Nov 09, 2011; [More]

Blog: Choose Health in Deptford Dec 07, 2011; An act of Charity or an entitlement? Who decides where the axe should fall... Nov 28, 2011; Pathways through participation Nov 02, 2011; Kids catch PB – how the Participatory Budgeting idea can pass into a community Oct 25, 2011; Discussions on the localism bill Sep 07, 2011; [More]

Events: PB masterclass: commissioning and budget cycles May 15, 2012; PB masterclass: PB in neighbourhoods Apr 16, 2012; The People's Budget workshop Mar 14, 2012; [More]